Spells

This spell, a more powerful and specialized form of Minor Binding, is a ritual designed to bind or dispel troublesome creatures from the various spirit realms. Any creature from the realms of Sakkaku, Chikushudo, Gaki-Do, Toshigoku, or Yume-Do can be affected by this spell. Casting it requires 10 minutes, although if additional shugenja who know the spell assist in the ritual, the time is reduced by 1 minute per additional shugenja, to a minimum of 1 minute.

If the targeted creature is within range of the caster(s) when the spell is successfully completed, the creature can be either bound or dispelled. If it is bound, it must obey the caster's commands for the duration of the spell, although suicidal commands will break the spell - this is how the Kuni have forced mujina spirits to labor for them in their iron mines. (It should be noted that this use of the spell is considered controversial and even blasphemous by many in Rokugan.) If the creature is dispelled, it immediately leaves Ningen-Do for its native spirit realm, and cannot return until the spell's duration ends. Either way, the spirit creature will regard the caster as an enemy thereafter, and is likely to seek vengeance if it can.

This spell infuses the target (which may be the caster or one of his allies) with the strength and resilience of the Earth, making him tougher and more firm-minded. For the duration of the spell, the target gains +2 Wounds per Wound Rank, and gains +1k1 on all rolls involving the Earth Ring and its associated Traits. When the spell expires, any Wounds the target has suffered still remain, and this may drive him into a lower Wound Rank or even kill him.

This spell calls on the spirits of Earth to protect the area around the caster from the effects o the other three Elements (Air, Fire, and Water) for a short time. While the caster concentrates on maintaining the favor the Earth spirits, the effects of spells which call on those other three elements are mitigated. Any hostile Air, Fire, or Water spell cast within the area of Earth's Protection, or extending its effects into that area, will suffer a +10 TN penalty to the Spell Casting roll. In addition, any damage which those spells inflict on creatures within Earth's Protection will be reduced by 1k1 (to a minimum of 1k1).

Developed by the Kuni as a way to deal with the swarming masses of Shadowlands beasts they would frequently encounter, this spell sends a rolling shockwave through the ground, knocking the unsteady from their feet. The shugenja chooses a direction, and this force shakes the ground immediately in that direction in an area of effect based on the spell and any Raises. All creatures caught in the area of effect must make a Contested roll with their Strength against the Caster’s Earth Ring or be knocked prone as if they had been hit with a Knockdown maneuver. Creatures with more than two legs gain two Free Raises on this roll.

This spell is a specialized variation of the more commonprayer known as Wall of Earth. It entreats the Earth spirits to draw an array of huge stones up from the ground, erupting in an instant through most intervening physical obstacles (such as the floor of a house) to create a circular barrier around the caster. The stones are too strong to break through with anything short of a siege engine (against a siege engine they are considered to have 500 Wounds and Reduction 15), but can be clambered over with a Complex Action and a roll of Athletics / Strength against the caster’s Earth x5.

When the spell expires, the stones crumble away to loose earth and dust.

This spell excites and angers the Earth spirits in the ground around the caster, causing them to briefly shake the ground in the manner of an earthquake; however, the spirits refrain from shaking the ground immediately beneath the caster himself. Although this spell does not produce a true earthquake, the brief tremor can still cause damage and alarm. Any persons within the area of effect must roll Agility at TN 20 or be knocked Prone, suffering 1k1 damage and being Dazed for one Round. Furnishing and other such items will be knocked over by the tremor, which may have a variety of effects as the GM chooses

(e.g. a table with a lantern falling over might start a fire).

When using the Siege rules from the L5R 4th edition supplement The Great Clans, Murmur of Earth will cause 4k2 damage to all structures within its area of effect, ignoring their Reduction.

This spell was originally created by the Kuni family and is still primarily practiced by them, although knowledge of its prayers has spread to other Clans. It is an elaborate ritual spell, requiring an hour to cast, that calls on the powers of Earth to purge the land of the Shadowlands Taint, driving out all the evil kansen in the area. The spell will remove the Taint from the land, plant life, and inanimate objects within the area of effect. It will not remove Taint from living creatures, nor will it affect powerful Tainted artifacts or objects made of obsidian.

The removal of the Taint, however, is not without a price. The elemental kami in the area of effect are also weakened and purged by the spell, especially the Earth spirits whose efforts are called upon to power it. In the aftermath of casting this spell, the local spirits are scattered and weakened, inflicting a +15 TN penalty on all Spell Casting rolls within the area. This negative effect will sometimes fade with time, especially if it was cast in a single location surrounded by normal lands. But if the spell is cast over a wide area, such as the Kuni Wastes, the elemental kami will usually permanently leave the area, reducing it to a gray, lifeless wasteland.

This spell infuses its targets, up to six people (who can include the caster), with the power of Earth, allowing them each to call upon the Earth of their comrades to bolster their efforts. For the duration of the spell, the lowest Earth Ring Tank among all the targets is added to the total of all Ring, Trait, and Skill rolls (but not Spell Casting rolls) the make.

This spell entreats the Earth kami to hide and conceal the targeted creature. Earth flows up to cover the target with a realistic-looking facsimile of some natural object, such as a tree or a boulder; this shell collapses back into loose earth when the spell expires. The target can hear and breathe normally, but has no other interaction with the world outside of the concealing shell of Earth; if he speaks, moves, or is actually hit by an attack, the spell immediately ends and the concealing shell collapses as above. From outside, however, the false object will seem perfectly normal and will resist physical blows with the same strength it would have if it were real.

When creating the false shell, the Earth kami will try to choose an object that is appropriate for the area (such as a boulder on a mountainside), but they do lack imagination and in any case cannot create the false form of a manmade object – thus, the utility of this spell within a town or a castle is somewhat limited.

This spell infuses the target (who can be the caster) with a powerful resistance to the Shadowlands Taint, repelling the dark kansen of the Taint with the pure power of Earth. For the duration of the spell, the target(s) gain a +5k5 bonus to all rolls made to resist gaining the Shadowlands Taint, and any maho spells suffer a +10 TN penalty to affect them. This bonus does not apply to any rolls made to resist an increase in Taint the target already possesses - it only applies to new Taint gained from outside sources. Likewise it cannot protect the target from gaining Taint by casting Maho.

This spell calls on the spirits of Earth to strengthen the target’s hands and forearms, making them as hard as stone. The target’s hands cannot be physically harmed for the duration of the spell (allowing him to perform a variety of feats, such as prying open a lock with his fingers), and his unarmed Damage Rating is increased by +2k0.

This spell has existed in Rokugan for centuries, but is best known for its extensive use by Toturi Sezaru, "the Wolf", who employed it during his hunts for Bloodspeakers. It calls on the power of the Earth to afflict the target, weighing down his body and impeding his muscles, leaving him weak and vulnerable.

The target's Earth Ring is lowered by 1 Rank, and his Wound Ranks are reduced correspondingly for the duration of the spell. (This can potentially kill him immediately if he already suffered Wounds.) In addition, his Strength Rank is also lowered by 1 for the same duration. If the target has at least one full Rank of the Shadowlands Taint, the Earth spirits will be filled with wrath, and punish him more severely, lowering his Earth Ring by 2 Ranks (to a minimum of 1).

This spell causes the Earth kami within a physical object to abandon that object, weakening its physical strength. Wood warps and flakes, stone and metal turn weak and brittle, cloth becomes thin and fragile, and so forth. The spell’s effects are permanent.

Mechanically, any weapon which is affected by this spell will lose 2k1 from its DR, and any armor will lose 5 from its Armor TN bonus and 3 from its Reduction. A variety of other non-mechanical effects can also take place, subject to the GM’s adjudication - for example, a kimono affected by this spell will rip if it is subject to the slightest tension or stress, and a scroll will tear and crumble the moment it is unrolled. Weakened stones or beams could be used to sabotage a bridge, to facilitate breaking into a besieged castle, and so forth.

In general, this spell will not affect awakened items (e.g. nemuranai), since their empowered spirits resist the shugenja’s entreaty.

This spell entreats the Earth kami inhabiting living plants and trees, causing them to make the plants rapidly grow and twine themselves around a designated target. Within seconds the target finds himself ensnared in a dense tangle of vines, creepers, and branches. The target is automatically Entangled at the moment the spell is cast; on his subsequent Turns, the target may attempt to escape as a Simple Action by making a Contested Strength roll against the plants’ Strength of 4. (Alternatively, the target can be cut free by allies – it takes two Turns’ worth of effort to slash away enough of the plants to free the target.) If the target escapes, or the spell expires, the plants drop away and shrivel up as the Earth kami cease to stimulate them.

This spell can only function in an area where living plants are present, e.g. it will not function inside a building, in a desert, on a barren mountainside, or other such environments. It cannot target a flying creature.