L5R: Lions, Dragons, and Cranes... Oh MY!

Nocren

Ok, so I wa reading a thread and noticed no L5R thread.

L5R or Legend of the 5 Rings is a companion RPG to the L5R CCG.
(Companion in the fact that events that take place in the CCG eventually happen in the RPG).

Recently (as in the last year) 3rd edition was released bringing back the 1st ed dice system. This means that all the 1st ed books are compatable with the new rules with very little tweeking.

Ok, first of you play as a member of the Emerald Empire of Rokuga. Rokugan is based heavily on Japanese, Chinese and Korean mythology.

As a samurai or shugenja (magic user/priest) you are tasked with doing samurai things. Keeping the peace, forging treaties, killing enemies, etc. While there are only two "classes" there are many jobs for a samurai from a courtisan to a yojimbo.

Combat is very leathal in this game. Espesically the iaido duels (those are the typical "stare-down....... <SLASH>" matches. Littereally means "Draw Technique").

Now for the Major Clans

Each one of the 7 major clans is decented from one of the 8 children from Lady Sun and Lord Moon.

Akodo formed the Lion Clan and with it a great military.

Hida formed the Crab Clan and vowed to protect the Empire from the Shadowlands.

Lady Doji formed the Crane Clan to teach perfection in all arts from Iaido to calligraphy.

Togashi formed the Dragon Clan. They seek Enlightenment in the Empire.

Bayushi formed the Scorpion Clan with orders to protect the Empire at all costs, even from threats that come from within.

Shin-jo formed the Ki-Rin clan to explore beyond the borders of Rokugan.
They returned 800 years later as the Unicorn Clan.

Shiba formed the Pheonix to study the mysterys of the Empire and Shadowlands.

Lord Hantei became Emporer.

Ok, I've exusted my knowledge and I've had too much sake/sochu. Someone else wanna take over?

Pkmoutl

Oh, how I love L5R.

I started playing when the 1st edition was out. They kind of forgot to print several pages of the rulebook, which just happened to be the majority of the combat system. They were going to fix this by putting the pages up on the AEG webiste for free download, but they decided that a better tactic was to fix the system and release it as the book-heavy 2nd edition.

I ran a couple of short L5R campaigns, and I kind of deviated from the main storyline (I do that a lot. No fucking publisher tells me what the fuck goes on in my games, god damn it. Fuck that BULLSHIT), and I changed a lot of things. But the system itself is spectacular.

I was kind of disappointed when the D&D Oriental Adventures came out and they were using the same setting and watered-down rules. You can say what you want, but the L5R system is a far superior system, at least for this type of game.

I haven't seen the 3rd edition yet. Then again, our local game shop closed down a year and a half ago.

Nocren

So did mine. But I ordered from AEG's website.
Got the main 3rd book and the Lotus era book mainly for the update to see what I missed (last time I played... I think was the Second Day of Thunder)

3rd Ed is basicly 1st ed with the combat rules in this time.
The Roll and Keep system is back. And I have about 3 or 4 of the 1st ed clan book so I was able to use them again to make 3rd ed characters.

Athenor

You know PK, you have said this a few times, and I could swear the copies of 1st edition I've seen and worked with were complete. *boggle*

Anyways, yes. L5R is in my top 5 favorite RPG's, (I think we have threads dedicated to all 5 now? ), and is my favorite to go to for consistancy, because it's a lot more universally played than some of my other favorites. I also love the card game attached to it.

I just try to ignore the d20 years. I wonder if I should use this thread or the 7th Sea thread to describe what happened, as they both got fucked up by it pretty royally.

Nocren

I think even AEG would rather forget what happened in the d20 years.

Also, I havent actually played and kept up with the mythos for about 2 or 3 years. And it was my first OP...

Is it up to snuff?

Athenor

TBH, I am not sure. Every time I walk into my gaming store, I only see 1 3rd edition book. The website says there are more, but considering the card game has been racing forwards pretty damned fast since Gold, I get the feeling the RPG has taken up an attitude of producing generic sourcebooks (most of which have been printed, to be honest) and then just updating the world in single books.

But I don't know. As I said, it's been a while since I've looked too.

Sonar

I really like the setting, though my story line has deviated considerably from the official time line (which is set by the trading card game if that makes you feel better).

I dont' think 3rd is much of an improvement, I escpecially don't like the katas concept which is, at its core, magic spells for samurai. I'm staying with 2nd edition.

I've got most of the books, except monks and the traders guide.


Ah the memories. It is a game I run ony for experience mature gamers, since I value my campaign very much, and it is very, very easy to get killed.

elkatas

Fine game indeed, but God I hated the metaplot. Each sourcebook changed something in setting, and by advent of 2nd edition, setting had changed beyond recognition. It's no big surprise that most fans stopped buying right there, especially when AEG's attitude was that they excepted you to decipher some plot parts from the CCG.

Nocren

You don't have to use the katas. I didn't even consider using them when I started.

However there is the Four Winds book. I think it's the only 3rd Ed book out right now but it explains EVERTHING that happened upto Lotus edition.

I loved the setting as well but I hadn't played the CCG either since the Spirit Wars so learning about what happened since then was great.

That's one of the reasons I enjoy the game (the high mortality rate). Same reason I also run it as a "reward" of sorts for mature players. Players that know that death is permanent and fighting should only be as a last resort.

I need to play this game again.

Sonar

elkatas wrote:

Fine game indeed, but God I hated the metaplot. Each sourcebook changed something in setting, and by advent of 2nd edition, setting had changed beyond recognition. It's no big surprise that most fans stopped buying right there, especially when AEG's attitude was that they excepted you to decipher some plot parts from the CCG.

By 3rd edition the plot has gotten out of control and silly, another victim of "what can we do to top ourselves?" mode of writing.

There are a lot of things I don't like about 3rd editon, not just the katas. For one, it's a hard read. The print is on dark paper so it's hard on my eyes, it also has a smaller font than 2nd edition which makes it harder. The story line is outright silly imho and... well I could go on, but I was really excited about the new edition, and now I'm just not going to bother. It's not fun.


BTW does anyone know where I could get a copy of Shadowlands Book 1?

Zomro

I love L5R. The system is good and the setting is great. I remember playing a game back when it was 2nd edition (I think), but I was just in middle school and I couldn't fully grasp the subtleties of the politics and social interactions, which is a big point of playing a samurai.

We did a game in 3rd edition that was more combat oriented, it was a classic Seven Samurai style story (group of samurai defend a village from bandits). It was fun, but it was lacking depth.

Fast forward to now and we've been playing our current 4th edition game off and on for a while. Our group rotates game systems so that out DMs stay fresh (my brother and I swap DM role). I'm so glad to be playing it again, as I can handle delicate social scenes while also being a badass samurai warrior.

I'm playing a Kakita bushi, Kakita Shinnojou. Born into a low vassal family, he's a Kakita in name only. Shinnojou, being born of natural talent (prodigy advantage), was allowed to study at the Kakita Duelling dojo located in the Crane capitol. Due to hid lower birth (i.e. not prestigious family), he was a bit of a social outcast. His only friend was a fellow student, a Doji from the main branch. Little did he know that his friend was fiercely jealous of his natural talent and the fact that the sensei's daughter liked Shinnojou more than him.

Shinnojou was chosen to participate in the Topaz Championship, along with his friend, for his genpukku. In the iaijutsu tournament, Shinnojou and his friend wound up drawing (rolled it out). Enraged at being unable to best Shinnojou, the Doji attacked Shinnojou with the intent to kill, permanently injuring his left eye (bad eyesight disadvantage). The Doji was cast out of the clan and has sworn bloody revenge (sworn enemy: nemesis).

One day, Shinnojou will have to face his one time friend, and part of himself feels guilty about what happened.

I'm really enjoying playing this character and I'm really connecting with him. I'm very excited about the prospect of his personal story ending tragically, if that makes any sense. Basically, because I'm mainly concerned with how good the story is, I won't mind having bad things happen to him.

In the meantime, my bushi will continue being a swordslinging badass. Best achievement so far? Taking out two bad guys in one turn (gotta love them exploding 10's).

Nocren

Wow, nice to see my old thread dug up.

I would love the get in on the Winter Courts AEG hosts on their website (events that shape the overarcing story during non-tournament years) and my ultimate dream is to have my own character card (even if it was a common/completely worthless, just to have a character I created become canonized).

Maybe next week, I can start getting back into things since my FLGS does L5R nights tuesday (again! They stopped a while due to lack of interest) and when Shield is over I'll be able to head out.

EDIT: I should post this short story I wrote about 2 days during Court. Just something short, maybe something you'd see at the beginning of a Rulebook chapter.

Solar

L5R is probably my most run game and the only game I've run at a con or equivalent

Love it to bits

Nocren

Glad to see that it's picking back up at my local store. I picked up the Matter of Honor set (two starters for the cost of one), but I still prefer Crane a few weeks back.

Anyway, they do demos on Sundays with more games/demos on Tuesdays. Anyway today, I told one of the guys that I wanted to play Crane but was waiting on a new set of starters to come in, but haven't. Somehow the dude managed to conjure up a Crane event starter (less top-level cards, but ready to play for blind events) and gave it to me. So yeah, come Tuesday, I'm ready to go... I hope.

EDIT: And now that I'm back in the Emerald Empire...



The writing is my best approximation of a Japanese calligrapher's writing of my family name (I'm a quarter Japanese).