hagure disadvantages?

[jayhad]

Are there any mechanical disadvantages to ending one's lifepaths in the hagure setting?

This is the outcast/outlaw setting and in a caste based world, surely there would be no place for these types. I did a quick look and did not see any penalties or anything for being an outsider...

[luke]

For example?

[jayhad]

I was referring to examples of the lowest (unwanted) caste in Japan as summarized...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

The word burakumin is used to describe descendants of outcaste communities in feudal Japan, most of them being eta (穢多) who worked in occupations relating to death, such as executioners, undertakers or leather workers. Severe social stigma was attached to these occupations, influenced by Buddhist prohibitions against killing and Shinto notions of kegare (穢れ "taint"). Other outcast groups included the hinin (非人). The definition of hinin, as well as their social status and typical occupations varied over time, but typically included ex-convicts and vagrants who worked as town guards, street cleaners or entertainers.

According to Japan, a Modern History, 2002: (cited here [4]),

Fundamental Shinto beliefs equated goodness and godliness with purity and cleanliness, and they further held that impurities could cling to things and persons, making them evil or sinful...But a person could become seriously contaminated by habitually killing animals or committing some hideous misdeed that ripped at the fabric of the community, such as engaging in incest or bestiality. Such persons, custom decreed, had to be cast out from the rest of society, condemned to wander from place to place, surviving as best they could by begging or by earning a few coins as itinerant singers, dancers, mimes, and acrobats.

There are many theories as to how and in which era the outcaste communities came into existence. For example, whether society started ostracising those who worked in tainted occupations, or if those who originally dropped out of society were forced to work in tainted occupations, is disputed. The social status and typical occupations of outcaste communities also varied considerably according to region and over time.

At the start of the Edo period (1603-1867), the caste system was officially established as a means of designating social hierarchy, and eta were placed at the lowest level, outside of the four main divisions of society. Like the rest of the population, they were bound by sumptuary laws based on the inheritance of their social class, The eta lived in segregated settlements, and were generally avoided by the rest of Japanese society. Segregation and discrimination were encouraged by the authorities as a means of government control. For example, they typically had their own temples and were not allowed to visit other religious sites. Japanese Buddhists were given posthumous religious names (戒名 kaimyo) when they were deceased; eta were often given names that included the kanji characters for beast, humble, ignoble, servant, and other derogatory expressions.[5] When dealing with members of other castes, they were expected to display signs of subservience, such as the removal of headwear. In an 1859 court case described by author Shimazaki Toson, a magistrate declared that "An eta is worth 1/7 of an ordinary person."

Historically, eta were not liable for taxation in feudal times, including the Tokugawa period, because the taxation system was based on rice yields, which they were not permitted to possess. Some outcastes were also called kawaramono (河原者, "dried-up riverbed people") because they lived along river banks that could not be turned into rice fields. Since their undesirable status afforded them an effective monopoly in their trades, some succeeded economically and even occasionally obtained samurai status through marrying or the outright purchase of troubled houses. Some historians point out that such exclusive rights originated in ancient times, granted by shrines, temples, kuge, or the imperial court, which held authority before the Shogunate system was established.



I guess I was wondering if these folks would have inherent social difficulties with the established caste system? Especially with the bushi and court...or should this be roleplayed without any mechanical modifiers (especially in social and etiquette situations). Thanks!

[Thor Olavsrud]

Hey Jayhad,

Luke maybe has more detail, but Blossoms is set more than 500 years before the Edo period and thus the caste system. I believe we asked Stephen Turnbull about the status of the people who would become the eta, but my understanding is that very little is known.

You might take a look at Impurities on page 170 though.

[luke]

Hi Jayhad,

From my (rather cursory) research, I found that the Burakumin did not exist in this period. And, further more, outside of succession to various thrones and clan seats, the caste system was not rigidly or fanatically adhered to during this period.

-L

[Andy K]

There was definitely a social hierarchy: Nobles at the top, commoners, merchants, farmers and warriors in the middle, and shanty-town folks wallowing in crap at the bottom (who would later be officially known as burakunin).

However, the official caste system wasn't set for anther few hundred years (late 1500s):
Samurai-Farmer-Artisan-Merchant
Untouchables aren't in there, neither are Buddhist Priests or Yakuza, as they are all "outside" that system (with Buddhist priests getting much more respect than eta/burakunin and yakuza).

-Andy

[jayhad]

Thanks. I was not sure of the historical caste system timing and thus their built-in social biases.

In general, though, how are characters that ended their lifepaths in Hagure viewed by the buke and court? What is the ruling govt opinion of bandits and such? More importantly, what is the view of Yamabushi, Duellists, and Ronin? Thanks.

[Andy K]

In general, though, how are characters that ended their lifepaths in Hagure viewed by the buke and court? What is the ruling govt opinion of bandits and such? More importantly, what is the view of Yamabushi, Duellists, and Ronin? Thanks.

Honestly? This should be determined in play, or at least set up before play begins.

Player: "I ended my lifepath on Hagure"
GM: "Cool. So what does that mean? Did you, like, just leave the household (and why?), or did you "throw your country away?" Or did you, like slay your master and his family and are being hunted down?"
Player: "Oh, definitely not the latter. I figure that he just got tired of politics, and left his master before his set period of family servitude was over. He wasn't the most awesome in the clan, so while there's some disgrace it's not like the master is tearing the country apart looking for me."
GM: "So, in other words, if you interacted with the buke and court, you'd be the black sheep with no clout because you're a willing ronin. But no one is out to kill you."
Player: "Yeah".

That's basically how you'd do it. If you decide that you killed your master for some reason to become Hagure, then the views of the court and others would have changed drastically.

-Andy