One of the games I run regularly is the Legend of the Five Rings (abbreviated L5R) Rleplaying Game. The game is set in Rokugan, a fantastic empire based loosely on the Warring States period of feudal Japan. Created by AEG, the game world has more than 15 years of development and the RPG is in its 4th edition. AEG also produces a card game of the same name which is also set in Rokugan.
Rokugan is an extremely rich setting filled with story opportunities. There are several central conflicts in Rokugan. The first, and most important, is the struggle between the honorable Empire the the corrupt and twisted power of the Shadowlands. From the beginning of the Empire's history, the people of Rokugan have been threatened by the oni (demons), goblins, ogres, and corrupted samurai (known collectively as the Lost) directed by the dark god . Periodically, the forces of the Shadowlands muster and test the strength of all Rokugan. Additionally, there is significant conflict between the Great Clans of the Empire.
The basic assumption in running the game is that the players will be members of the samurai caste that make up the Great Clans of the Empire. Standard characters can be bushi, the traditional image of a samurai warrior, though often with a twist based on their clan; shugenja, powerful spellcaster-priests who draw their power from the elemental spirits of Rokugan; and courtiers, who represent their clans in the courts of Rokugan. Each of the eight Great Clans has their own variation of the standard character types, sometimes more than one, which allows tremendous diversity even among characters of the same type. For example, a Kakita samurai from the Crane Clan is a perfect duelist, a Hida samurai of the Crab Clan is a heavily armored demon slayer, and Tsuruchi samurai from the Mantis Clan is a master archer. Additional schools allow you to play characters ranging from ninjas, to master smiths, to pirates.
Clan is probably the most important factor in playing a character in L5R. Each clan has at least four character schools (like classes in other RPGs) each with a unique set of techniques as well as four or more families with different bonuses. The clans and families also carry a great deal of personality; each clan exemplifies a particular archetype and the family focuses on one facet of that archetype or creates an interesting contrast to it. The history of Rokugan lays out rivalries and alliances between the clans as well, producing and interesting social dynamics for characters to follow or eschew.
Doji Seo, Samurai of the Crane Clan as seen in the core rulebook.
The character possibilities don't stop with the Great Clans, however. Using the core rulebook, you can also create characters from the Minor Clans, monastic orders, Imperial families, or even ronin (outcast samurai). A particularly unusual group could even play tainted Lost characters seeking the overthrow of the empire. The first supplemental book, Enemies of the Empire, also gives details for playing the rat-like Nezumi and the snake-like Naga.
What I think makes L5R (both the RPG and CCG) really amazing is the interactive and evolving world. With more than 15 years of story development, Rokugan has seen three Imperial dynasties, countless internal wars and conflicts, and innumerable existential threats. All of these events were influenced by player input and game results over the years. Long time L5R fans and players get a real sense of ownership of the world. There are three previous editions of the roleplaying game, as well as a number of novels, which flush out the world in tremendous detail.
For L5R (and for other games in the past) AEG utilizes the roll and keep system. Players roll a certain number of 10 sided dice based on their attributes and skills, and add up a smaller number of dice in an attempt to reach a particular target number based on the difficulty of the task. It is an extremely elegant system which fits the setting perfectly. Combat can be easily modified to suit the style of the group, but the basic assumption makes it fast and deadly (most combats last 2-3 rounds).
The core rulebook is beautiful and full of artwork depicting the world and people of Rokugan. The pages are decorated with Japanese style watercolor painting and printed in full color. There is so far only one additional book in fourth edition, the aforementioned Enemies of the Empire, which gives details on many of the threats the Empire faces. Future planned supplements include a book with more information on the Imperial Families, one that goes into greater depth on each of the Great Clans, and a book that details the various historical periods of Rokugan.If you want more information on L5R in general, you kind find the official website here.
In a future post, I will go into more detail on the L5R game I run as well as include the thoughts of some of my players. I was hoping to include some of that in this post, but this weeks game session was unfortunately cancelled. I also hope to have a large picture post of my newly finished Space Wolves in the near future.
Until next time, keep on rolling dice.
All images in this post are the property of AEG and are used without permission.
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