There are times when simple success is not enough. When a character needs to accomplish something truly spectacular, Raises are the means by which that can be accomplished. When a player declares he is making a Raise, he is choosing to voluntarily increase the TN of the task his character is attempting, by an increment of 5 per Raise. Raises are generally made when a player feels his character’s abilities will allow him to easily exceed the TN for a given task. The most common use of Raises is to allow characters to perform Maneuvers in combat (described later in this chapter), but individual GMs can allow any number of different effects with sufficient Raises. Players who wish to try unconventional or creative actions that are not covered by the basic rules should simply ask the GM how many Raises will be required to succeed.

A character can make a maximum number of Raises per roll equal to his Void Ring. A character with Void 2, for instance, can make 1 or 2 Raises per roll, but not 3. Some mechanical effects grant a character Free Raises. These give the benefit of having made a Raise without actually increasing the TN of the roll in question, and do not count toward the maximum number of Raises that may be made per roll. Free Raises may also be used to reduce the TN of the task being attempted by 5 instead of augmenting the roll in the same way as a normal Raise.

Raises are not without risk, however. If a player declares Raises on a roll, and the result of his roll fails to meet the new, increased TN, the roll fails. This is a failure even if the result of the roll meets the original TN but falls short of the new, increased TN.

Unlike the other four Rings (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water), there are no Traits associated with the Void Ring. Instead, a character gains a number of Void Points equal to his Void Ring, and may use them to enhance die-rolls and other actions made during the course of the game. Void Points represent a moment of enlightened insight or an epiphany that a character experiences, that moment when, for just an instant, he is at one with the universe. A character’s pool of Void Points is refreshed each day after an opportunity to rest, although certain meditation techniques allow them to be recovered more quickly.

A player may declare he is spending a Void Point any time when it would be applicable, but the most common instances are before the player’s character makes a roll, takes certain types of Actions, or takes damage. The expenditure of a Void Point enhances a roll or the character’s abilities in one of a number of different ways. A character may normally only spend one Void Point per Round for one of the following effects, although some abilities may allow them to spend more than one under certain circumstances. By spending a Void Point, a character may:

* Gain a bonus of +1k1 to a Skill, Trait, Ring, or Spell Casting roll (the Void Point expenditure must be declared prior to the roll being made). Damage Rolls may not be enhanced in this manner.

* Temporarily increase his rank in a Skill from 0 to 1, avoiding Unskilled Roll penalties.

* Reduce the amount of Wounds suffered from one source of damage by 10 (this must be done immediately after the damage total is announced).

* Increase his Armor TN by 10 for one round. This is done at the beginning of the combat Round.

* Exchange his Initiative Score with one willing target for the remainder of the current skirmish. This is done at the beginning of the combat Round. Only one of the two characters needs to spend a Void for this effect to take place.

* Increase his Initiative Score by 10 for the duration of the current skirmish. This is done at the beginning of the combat Round.

Also, Void Points may be spent to activate certain School Techniques - this does not count against the once per Round restriction.

A Target Number is a measure of the diffi culty of any given task, as determined by the Game Master. A task that should be easy will be assigned a low TN, whereas a difficult task will have a higher TN. While individual Game Masters are encouraged to use their own judgment to determine the diffi culty of any task, a general idea of how diffi cult a given task might be is as follows:

TN None - Difficulty: Mundane - Getting out of bed/Remembering details of your sword

TN 5 - Difficulty: Very Easy - Striking an immobile target/Recognizing an old friend

TN 10 - Difficulty: Easy - Carrying half your weight/ Finding a misplaced item

TN 15 - Difficulty: Average - Lifting your weight/Remembering someone you’ve seen once

TN 20 - Difficulty: Moderate - Jumping a tenfoot ditch/Recognizing someone in disguise

TN 25 - Difficulty: Difficult - Scaling a cliff without rope/Finding a wellhidden object

TN 30 - Difficulty: Very Hard - Diving safely from a waterfall/Remembering someone’s exact words

TN 40 - Difficulty: Heroic - Out-wrestling a troll/Naming all of your ancestors… in Order

TN 60 - Difficulty: Impossible - Shattering stone with bare hands/Outwitting a fortune

At its core, the Legend of the Five Rings Role-playing Game uses a very simple mechanic. When a player wishes to have his character take an action, the Game Master determines what abilities the character should use to determine success or failure (these abilities most often consist of one Trait and one Skill used in conjunction with one another). The Game Master must also decide how difficult the task should be, and choose a Target Number (TN) based on this difficulty. The player rolls a number of ten-sided dice based upon the abilities on the samurai’s character sheet that the Game Master has identifi ed as necessary for the task. The player then adds the total of the dice rolled and compares the sum to the TN chosen by the Game Master. If the total meets or exceeds the TN, the character successfully completed the task in question. If the total is less than the TN, the character has failed to complete the task.

It is rare that a player will keep all of the dice rolled when his character is taking an action. Typically, a player can keep a smaller number of dice than the amount rolled, and in almost all situations the player will choose the highest rolling of the dice, although he may keep whichever ones he chooses; if for some reason he wishes for his character to fail the roll in question, he may choose lower rolling dice. When denoting the number of dice that should be rolled and kept, the format used is XkY, where X represents the number of dice rolled, or “rolled dice,” and Y the number of dice kept, or “kept dice.” For example, the notation 4k2 means that four dice should be rolled and two of them chosen to be kept and added together; if the player rolled a 3, 6, 7, and 9, the player would likely choose the 7 and 9 for a total of 16 on the roll.