Optional Rule: Adding Lethality

Traditionally, the setting of Legend of the Five Rings is a lethal one, with fights being quick, brutal, and deadly.

In general, the GM can reflect this by inflicting critical injuries on PCs more often. A possible adjustment can be done by adding the Vicious quality to more weapons; rank 1 for weapons that don't have it listed, or increase the rank by 1 for those that do. This should only be done for weapons that it makes logical sense to have (such as most bladed weapons). They can also add the Lethal Blows talent for PCs and NPCs to have access to (see below).

Another option is to reduce the availability of health potions (painkillers) in the game, by increasing their price and rarity. Alternatively, the GM can elect to remove them entirely from the game. This will require much more natural rest and down time for PCs, however.