You begin at level 2 and start with +5 Respect. Performing routine tasks is second-nature to you. Any time you roll lower then a 5 on a d20 roll you instead treat the roll as though you rolled 5. The easy way to do this in open is use the 1d20.minroll command. This means you can not botch. Furthermore, if you take this unique you roll your starting stats three times and take the best results, instead of just twice.
:You may spend a willpower point to retroactively perform a reflective or free action after you roll a defense or strike. So, for instance, you could use kawarmi after you fail your dodge, but know that using it would help your roll succeed. This includes spending a second willpower to add the normal +1d10 bonus to the roll.