Looking for Advice: NPC Concepts

[SGI]

Well, my first post in this new Forum which I've been awaiting for quite a while. I plan on making it my new home (a migration from the Gundam Subforum).

Anyway,

I've currently working on planning a very large scale Legend of the Five Rings campaign that will probably cover a time frame of around 6 years game time. Anyway I want to create a 'rival party' for the characters. Of course, naturally since I haven't gathered the players let alone generated characters I have yet to work out how many I need.

So I was wondering if you guys could help me with some more character concepts. Here is a list of what I have so far. For those who don't know a thing about L5R, here is the major character class types.

Bushi - The warrior class.
Shugenja - A cross between cleric and mage. They are basically holy spell casters.
Courtier - Masters of politics, manipulation and social interaction.
Monk - Have a wide range of unusual abilities depending on their school.
Shinobi - Ninja, need I say more.

Definately In the rival party.

Akodo Makoto - A warrior of the Lion Clan who is determined to prove his skills in battle. He is arrogant but adheres strongly to the code of Bushido.
School: Akodo Bushi School
Level 1 Technique: Can completely ignore a target's armor when determining if attacks hit.


Hida Haruka - Born into the harsh environment of the Hida family, a family known for its large bodies, Haruka is notoriously short even by traditional standards. She is quiet and stoic but she is very sensitive about her short stature and is prone to lose her temper when it is mentioned. Despite her short stature she is very strong and fights with either a heavy tetsubo or ono. Notoriously heavy weapons.
School: Hida Bushi School
Level 1 Technique: All armor she wears is considered 1 grade lighter when determining skill penalties for wearing armor.


Concepts I'm Interested In
Tactician - A tactical oriented character whose body is wrecked by tuberculosis.Possible Schools: Akodo War College (Courtier)


So if you have any ideas for character concepts feel free to post them. I may not use every suggestion even those that develop into fully fledged characters. It all really depends on the party that is created on chargen night. But I will greatly appreciate all suggestions.

[CF Striker]

um, can I just say something real fast...(Level 1 ignore all armor)....considering armor is mainly use to avoid/deflect attacks, that's a bit overpowered for a level 1 character in my book.

[SGI]

Quick notes on L5R since it's a different system to D&D.
1.) There are only 8 'Insight Ranks' or 'levels' in Legend of the Five Rings.
2.) Armor is not the primary means of defence, the reflexes trait is the main source of defense.
3.) Combat is much, much more deadly. A skirmish can end after one or two hits. A dungeon crawl is a very bad idea.

Believe it or not, the Akodo Bushi is not that overpowered. In fact one of the most controversial schools is the Tsuruchi Bounty Hunter (or Wasp Bounty Hunter in my timeline).