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First Impressions:
You get a new chance to impress the World
every 24 hours. Use it wisely.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with
a single step, and my collection of Legend
of the Five Rings books started with a single
purchase. I bought the original rulebook from
my local RPG shop, little did I know that
in six or seven month’s time I would
be a LoT5R’s junkie and I’d own
every single book they had released. Do I
regret that initial addiction forming purchase?
Not even for a second.
I bought the rulebook as I fancied a new
game, preferably fantasy (having recently
bought Trinity I didn’t really need
another Sci-fi) and most of all it had to
be a game which no one else I knew owned.
So LoT5R’s was the perfect choice. It
was fantasy with an eastern twist and most
of my friends had never even heard of it let
alone purchased a copy.
Purchasing the new Second Edition Player’s
Guide was as inevitable as Arnie becoming
the Governor of California (well done by the
way… on the off chance he’s reading
this). As I flicked through the book I realised
my money hadn’t been wasted and that
the new edition had a lot to offer a current
player as well as any newcomers.
The Look:
Does this book make me look fat?
I have to say that I was actually slightly
disappointed with the cover art of the new
edition. The old rulebook had a great picture
of a surrounded samurai ‘selling his
life dearly’ as he fights off his attackers.
The new book however has a very stationary
feel to it and doesn’t really inspire
any kind of feeling at all from me, which
is a real shame as almost all the interior
art is great and really captures the feel
of Rokugan (the land where the game is set
– more on this in a few seconds - depending
how fast you read of course).
The Content:
So what’s between the sheets?
The real strength of this mighty fine game
is the setting.
In this book you’re introduced to the
land of Rokugan, which is where the game is
set. The best way to describe Rokugan is by
comparing it to ancient feudal Japan. It has
a very similar feel but with a fantasy twist,
almost as if all their old myths and legends
had been real… and then some. The society
is much like ancient Japan with the very defined
classes of emperor, warrior, merchant and
peasant. This intricate system of order is
all set against a truly great fantasy background.
Rokugan is a patchwork of grassland, open
plains and forest with a range of mountains
and coastline protecting its borders. There
are many small villages and towns dotting
the countryside and several large cities which
act as centres of commerce and culture.
So where is the fun in that? I hear all the
brave monster slaying guys and gals among
you yell, let’s face it peace doesn’t
make great roleplaying. Luckily, for gamers
at least, there is a large wall in the south
defended by the crab clan (more on the clans
in a sec); this wall stretches from the coastline
in the east to the mountains in the west.
On the other side of this wall lies the Shadowlands.
This is a dark corrupt area, which is home
to Fu Leng (the main bad guy) and all his
evil minions. These range from the common
fantasy antagonist ‘goblins’ to
the new and varied evil of the ‘oni’.
This is basically an all encompassing name
for the weird monsters and beasties that inhabit
the Shadowlands, some of which are huge muscle
bound brutes and others are sneaky innocent
looking deviants, but one thing is for sure
they are all nasty as hell. Very original
and great for throwing something new at an
experienced group.
Next up we have the clans, who under the
emperor, rule Rokugan. Most characters will
either be from or have come from one of the
clans so here's a little info on them. First
off we have the major clans; the unicorn (outsiders),
the crab (crude and tough), the crane (elegant
and political), the lion (warlike and honourable),
the phoenix (studious and magical), the dragon
(mysterious and religious) and the scorpion
(sneaky and underhand). There are also some
minor clans who have been growing in power
recently and are beginning to have more of
an effect on the big picture.
So in a very small nutshell that is Rokugan
and the Legend of The Five Rings setting,
to fully appreciate how it all works you will
need to read to book, trust me its well worth
it as this is one of the finest settings I’ve
ever read and excels in every area.
Second Edition:
Being first isn’t always good, take
landmines for instance.
Lets get one thing straight - nothing was
wrong with the first edition of the game.
The system is great and has remained largely
un-changed in the new version. In fact to
be honest I love this rules system so much
that if I ever make my own game I would love
to use the ‘roll and keep’ system.
The system is simple to learn and easy to
teach to new players. It also makes a lot
of sense and works really well in combat and
skill tests.
The main differences between the first and
second editions of this game have been in
the setting. The second edition has taken
the storyline a few years down the line from
the original game and I think Alderac have
handled the storyline progression very well.
They have been releasing various books and
adventures, which gradually changed the storyline
and worked characters into the new version
and let's them feel like they had helped bring
the new setting about.
Another big advantage of this book is the
collected info it has from all the old books.
They have collected info from all The Way
of The Clans books and the GM’s Survival
Guide. They have even now included the new
faction on the scene, which are worth mentioning
as the characters can choose to play one of
the with the GM’s consent. These are
the Naga, who are an ancient race of snake-like
beings that have yet to show their true colours
and have remained in the shadows for the most
part so far observing the humans and trying
to decide whether the two-legs are a good
or bad thing.
Final Thoughts:
Last words are for fools who haven't said
enough… so here goes.
Is the book really any good then? Yes I think
it is well worth considering if you want to
buy a roleplay game and if you already have
the original and liked it then this should
be on your list without a doubt. It adds an
exciting new chapter to your current LoT5R’s
games and lets you characters carry on their
adventures in Rokugan. The Clan War storyline
can be hard to work round and in some ways
I’m not sure it was the right way to
go, but I can see it has a purpose and is
surely leading to bigger things.
The oriental setting may put some gamers
off but trust me this is truly original and
you’ll experience roleplaying situations
you would never get in other games. The huge
range of other books that have already been
released for the first edition are still all
fully compatible with this new edition and
provide you with a mammoth selection of game
types to draw from. Do you set you game in
the realms of mystery where Rokugani culture
can get in the way of investigations and honour
can provide moral dilemmas, or do you go all
out in the war settings with the characters
commanding troops and missions against the
enemy. There is even the ‘old skool’
option where your characters can do battle
with the monsters of the Shadowlands for honour
and personal glory. For a fantasy game you
could do far worse than this, and not a great
deal better.
Reviewed By Jon Simpson
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