Otomo Bureaucrats

The methods of the Imperial bureaucracy began in the time of Hantei Genji, but came to full flower in the years after the Reign of the Gozoku, when the Otomo family was tasked with obstructing and dividing the Great Clans, ensuring they would never again be able to subordinate the Emperor. Otomo bureaucrats specialize in delay, obfuscation, and subtle but persistent obstruction, using such indirect and seemingly passive methods to block and foil the goals of the Great Clans.

Otomo Bureaucrat [Courtier]
 * Rank: 3


 * Replaces: Otomo Courtier 3


 * Requirements: Etiquette (Bureaucracy) 5

Technique: Imperial Scrutiny
Where a normal Otomo relies on the awesome power of Imperial authority to overawe his rivals, a Bureaucrat relies on the intricate and obscure complexities of the Imperial government to stymie and obstruct his opponents. Any time another samurai is trying to accomplish something in the courts (building an alliance, negotiating a treaty, making a trade deal, requesting favor from the Throne, etc), you may employ the intricacies of the Imperial bureaucracy to delay him. This may take up to several hours to carry out, and is represented mechanically by a Contested Roll of Etiquette (Bureaucracy) / Willpower; if you spend a Void Point on this roll, you gain +2k2 instead of the usual +1k1. If you win the Contested Roll, the samurai cannot make any progress toward his goal for the next two weeks, no matter what he does. This Technique cannot be used on the same target again until after the two weeks’ delay has expired.