Many Rokugani plays have been written chronicling the impossible choices facing a samurai as their human feelings, or ninjō, conflict with their obligations to society, or giri.
Those things that would get in the way of Bushidō are real and meaningful forces in a samurai’s life, and it is the rare soul who can resist their call completely.
The stories and the drama of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game revolve around the tension between these two conflicting forces. One of the fundamental choices a player must make during character creation is to select ninjō and giri, the opposing forces of a samurai’s inner desire and the external demands placed upon them by their lord and by fate.
Whether a
samurai chooses happiness or duty in a given moment
has narrative and mechanical consequences not only for
themselves, but for all of the Emerald Empire.