Question about L5R

Athenor

So I looked back a couple months worth of threads here, and didn't see a general discussion thread about L5R. No biggie, it's not big enough of a game to warrant one, I guess.

I've recently been bitten by the gaming bug again (yay for social circles!) and was looking into the game. Personally I haven't seen anything since 3rd edition, which I bought on the spot.


So here are my questions:


1) I own the 2nd edition player's guide (not the GM guide), Rokugan d20, and a small smattering of clan books and older material. I also own the 3rd edition rulebook. Which books for 3rd edition should I get, and in which order?

2) Is revised 3rd worth dropping the money on, even though I have a near-mint copy of 3rd?

3) I noticed Legend of the Shifting Sands tonight (part of why I am on this kick). Are there more books for that line, and is it standalone or a part of L5R? Will 7th Sea be getting the same treatment?



,,, Basically I just want to know which books to buy, preferably from an "I'm gonna run it" standpoint. I love the naga, but I know they are mostly gone from the lore. I love the Unicorn, so I think that Master of Arms book is a must-get. But I just need a place to start. I mean, these fucking things are EXPENSIVE.

Hayasa

If you can find Emerald Empire, its worth getting. I can't, so maybe thats just grass is greener syndrome.

Masters of Court is good, probably the non-core book I refer to the most.
Masters of Magic I found kind of disappointing; not much versatile stuff.
Art of the Duel is a good read and has a few things that you can integrate into any game.

I've got 3rd ed revised though, and quite frankly its pretty bloody complete in and of itself.

Canada_jezus

Masters of war has as shit ton about the unicorn. Also lion and crab, i'd recommend it. Besides that you have all the books you'd need to run it in a variety of eras.

2.) Well the unrevised lacks rules for horses beyond that its not especially worth it imo. Creatures of rokugan has rules for naga and playing/interacting with them.

3 i don't know about.

DozingDragon

1) 3rd Ed. Revised. You can seriously just run a good game with just that. It is balanced against itself, and is all you really need. However, what you get after that really depends on what you want out of the books.

If you want tons of setting information, Emerald Empire would be the best.

If you want mechanics and some setting information, Four Winds is great for some new mechanics (like advanced schools).

Another favorite of mine is Creatures of Rokugan, it has full updated rules and information for playing Naga and Nezumi, a few new advanced schools, and almost every creature from a previous edition updated.

The Art of the Duel is generally considered incredibly broken with the mechanics it presents, and an altogether lackluster book.

The Masters of Series is also pretty lacking compared to some of the older First Ed. clan books, and their mechanics aren't all that great either.

Prayers and Fortunes is good if you really want to focus on Shugenja, but it is just Spells and magic items.

Finally, Legend of the Burning Sands came out late last year, and I haven't got a hold of it as of yet, but so far everything I have heard about it has been good, and if you liked that setting back in the day, I would go for that.

To summarize: Revised Core, Emerald Empire and/or Four Winds, and Burning Sands, with everything else being very optional.

2) Yes, it is absolutely worth it. Be sure to check out the official forms though once you get it, because some of the revisions were left out because of a layout error, so there is a bit of errata on the forums.

3) Last I heard they were just trying out that book because there was a lot of interest, and they would decide whether or not to go further down that line based on sales. The rules are the same system as L5R, so they do integrate, as do the storylines and all that.

7th Sea however is NOT part of that world apparently (that all got retconned), and there is a very low likelihood of ever seeing that property revived.

Also, if you are getting into L5R, I cannot recommend enough picking up the First Edition books. The Way of books are fantastic for getting a very good handle on the setting. As are the two box sets, with Ryoko Owari being slighly superior to Otosan Uchi. Getting those books before some of the newer 3rd ed. books like the Masters of series is probably your best bet. Plus, they do sell PDFs of all those older books, so they aren't that hard to find.

Athenor

I played L5R back in 1st, so I know about the older books. I wish they were still around and easy to get.


Oh, wait, pdf's? Hmmm.... although man, with gaming going the PDF route I'm gonna have to get a laptop.



.... What do you mean by 7th Sea getting retconned?