I've had this idea bouncing around my head for a while and thought I would voice it and see if others thought it was worth pursuing. I am thinking of a house rules system inspired heavily by Legend of the Five Rings and using Clan Wars miniatures. It would be it's own system (the original Clan Wars felt a little too similar to Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition) that was easy to pick up and quick to play.
Personalities & Followers:
Personalities (heroes) and Followers (units) would all have the same core stats—one for each ring (Water, Fire, Air, Earth and Void). Water would govern movement, Fire would govern melee ability, Air would cover missile attacks, Earth would cover toughness/armour (and wounds for personalities) and Void would represent magic and dueling ability. Additionally, each personality and follower has an Honour score (for morale) and a Koku cost. Each unit of followers would consist of infantry or cavalry of the same type, arranged in ranked formation, and would generally number 3 to 12 models and rarely any larger than that.
Example Unit
Yari Ashigaru (Water 2, Fire 1, Air 1, Earth 1, Void 0, Honour 0)
Equipment: Yari (4k2), Light Armour (+1 Earth), House Banner (+1 Honour).
Example Personality
Yotsu Toritaka (Water 2, Fire 4, Air 2, Earth 3, Void 2, Honour 2)
Equipment: Naginata (3k3), Heavy Armour (+2 Earth), Rokugani Steed (Water +2).
Phases
The game round would be broken down into 5 phases, as follows. Within a phase, the attacker may act with one unit, then the defender may do the same, and then the attacker may act again (except for the Ring of Fire phase, in which all melees are resolved simultaneously). When a unit acts in any phase, it is "bowed" (tip one model in the front rank on its face)—the unit cannot act again that round (except to resolve melees or move in the reserve phase). A phase ends when both players pass consecutively.
The Rule of 10
The game uses only d10 (ten-sided) dice. Often you will roll a given number of dice and either sum the total of the results or consider them individually. Other times (particularly in melee), you will roll a number of dice and discard all but a few, which you "keep". Whenever a die comes up "0" (aka "10"), the player may immediately roll and keep an additional die (the die you keep does not need to be the bonus die you rolled, but extra 10's can result in even more bonus dice).
Order of Phases
1) Air Phase: An activated unit may fire missile weapons at a target within line of sight. Roll a number of dice equal to the unit's Water rank plus any bonuses for their weapon. So a Water 2 unit with Daikyu longbows (+2) will roll 4d10. If the sum of the dice is equal or greater than the range to the target, the target takes one casualty. For each die that could be dropped from the attack result and still result in range, the attack scores an additional casualty. Damaged units roll a number of dice equal to their Earth rank (plus any armour) and any die that results in 8+ saves one hit.
2) Water Phase: An activated unit may move twice their Water rank in inches forward (wheeling at any point), move backwards equal to one times their Water rank, or charge. To charge, roll a number of dice equal to the Water rank and choose the highest (aka "keep" one die). If this is within range, the charge is successful. Otherwise, the unit moves forward a number of inches equal to the lowest dice roll and bows.
3) Fire Phase: All melee combats are resolved. To fight a combat between two units, each unit rolls a number of dice equal to their Fire rank and Weapon "roll" value and discard all except a number of dice equal to their Weapon "keep" value. Thus a unit of Ashigaru (Fire 1) with Yari (4k2, or "roll 4, keep 2") roll 5 dice and keep the top two. Each side compares their kept dice as per the Risk boardgame (highest to highest, next highest to next highest etc). Any successful, even or unopposed dice results in a casualty to the enemy (which may be saved with a Earth roll, as in the Air phase).
Morale:
After casualties are removed, the unit must test their Honour to see if they hold their ground. Roll the unit's Honour plus the Honour rank of any friendly personality leading them. If they roll fewer 8+ results than they took casualties, then the unit flees—permanently lower their Honour rank by 1 and roll their Water rank in dice, "keeping" the highest die for the distance they move directly away from all enemies. They will continue to flee in subsequent Water phases but can attempt to rally in any Reserve Phase.
4) Void Phase: Shugenja may cast Spells (system to be determined, but will probably involve rolling Void + relavant ring and "keeping" Void). Additionally, personalities that are still in melee contact may issue Iaijutsu challenges. If a challenge is refused, the cowardly model is moved to the back of the unit for the rest of the melee. If the challenge is accepted, both sides roll Fire plus Void ranks in dice. The challenged personality then has the option to "Focus" (by rerolling one of his dice) or "Strike" (the opponent gets one last chance to Focus and then the duel is resolved, comparing the rolls as in the Fire phase). If the challenged personality Focuses, the challenger may do the same, and so on until one side has Focused a number of times equal to their Void rank, or until one side chooses to Strike.
5) Reserve Phase: Any unit (even bowed) that is at least 12" away from any enemy unit may move again, as per the Water phase. Fleeing units can attempt to rally (rolling Honour as before, needing at least one 8+ to reform). Then, unbow all units and start the next round with the Water phase.
It's a rough draft of an idea, but do you think it has merit? Where might it need some work? I intentionally made the attack values not based on the number of models in the unit in order to represent some of the heroics of the stylized L5r genre, so that a small remnant of 2 ronin can fight with the best of them against a horde of Goblins (it's also meant to be a dice pool game, without turning into a bucket of dice game).
speculates about post-Innsmouth gaming.