In many ways, Blood and Honor is more of an extension and revision of the rules presented in Houses of the Blooded than a separate game. In fact, at one point John Wick, in typical John Wick fashion, states that a great deal of Blood and Honor is lifted directly from Houses of the Blooded.
There are a few changes between Houses of the Blooded and Blood and Honor and the first and most significant is evident almost immediately. Although Blood and Honor retains Virtues and Aspects from its predecessor, character creation does not start with the character. Instead the group begins by creating one or more clans. The clan(s) created do a great deal to help define the nature of the characters that are then created as well as where the story goes once character creation is done.
During clan creation, the players select four aspects for the clan, though one of these is always an aspect called “None of Us is as Great as All of Us,” an aspect that gives characters bonus dice for assisting a fellow member of their clan. Unlike Houses of the Blooded, where an aspect could be anything that the player can come up with and the Narrator approved, the aspects in Blood and Honor are limited and defined. It should also be noted that Aspects in Blood and Honor do not have Tags. While the Invoke and Compel facets remain, Aspects no longer have a Tag that opponents can use against characters.
The beginning Daimyo is always an NPC but one that the players define by selecting from one of 6 personality types for him. Tags come from the Daimyo chosen. Each Daimyo has a Quality that provides benefits as well as disadvantages that might be Tags that opponents can use against the Samurai of the Daimyo’s Clan. All of this combines to make Blood and Honor seem like much more of a cooperative game than Houses of the Blooded. While it is still certainly possible for betrayal and Machiavellian machinations within a Blood and Honor clan, these would only weaken the clan and thus the people within it. Read the rest of this entry »
