Daidoji Tacticus wrote:
I find Jigoku quite boring, frankly. It obliterates moral complexity. Who's the bad guy here? Well... that guy. He worships Jigoku. So let's have a Spider-y Rokugan that's about human people making human decisions.
I wanted to start a discussion about this. I honestly feel that a lot of this comes from earlier editions (and to be honest, likely even this edition of the RPG). And to some extent, I think that's because Jigoku and the Taint were originally intended as a Bad Thing, and this was a mechanical tool to be used in the RPG to represent that.
Caveat; this is from external looking in I suppose. To most inhabitants of Rokugan; "Jigoku baaaad!" But then, that's part of the point of a struggle/underdog story sometimes.
I honestly feel that within the story and narrative of L5R, Jigoku and the Taint has much more leeway than "get tainted; become mindless monster."
I'm working at the moment, so I can't dedicate the time to write an essay on this at the moment, but there are a number of examples where dark, and "evil" characters use those elements to tell compelling stories.
Some examples I can think of that I feel are similar;
the Dark Side of the Force
Orange/Red Lantern rings
But anyway, I'd be interested in a discussion on this.