Interest Check: Legend of the Five Rings

[QUOTE="Thorn Darkblade]I have all but two books of the current edition so if you're wondering which are a good buy or not or what has specifics, ask away :)

[/QUOTE]
I'd be interested in knowing what you think of each.
 
solyrflair said:
I'd be interested in knowing what you think of each.
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Alrighty, my run down:

Enemies of the Empire: Pretty much required, in my opinion. Higher ronin ranks, shadowlands, undead, maho, oni, naga, nezumi, the darkness, and plus a few other things, plus really nice NPC stat blocks. Incredibly useful, and when I'm packing light for a session, one of the books I ALWAYS bring with


Emerald Empire: Almost as required as Enemies, considering how culturally focused Rokugan is. All the random intricacies of samurai culture everyone seems to know from various editions? All gathered in here, in a very convenient form. Plus, tangible things for a high Status, including being able to take prominent positions in Rokugani society and the mechanics for them, such as having your own army or property, or founding your own dojo. This makes it really necessary for any game where characters can move up political ranks.


The Great Clans: The third in my holy trinity of almost-required source books. A breakdown of all the schools and sub-families that didn't make the cut into the core book, plus detailed mechanics for clan-specific things, such as Siege Warfare in the Crab chapter. Also, heritage tables are fun as heck if you like a bit of randomness in your chargen.


The rest aren't as necessary, but still pretty good.


Imperial Histories 1+2: Pretty awesome, especially if you want to run an alternate era game. #2 has the most recent story arc, The Destroyer War, so, if you're doing modern, that's the more important of the two. #1 has my favorite era though, Clan Wars. There's also a few alternate history lines as well, including steam punk and sci fi variants.


Book of (Insert Element): Pretty decent, but more a pick-and-choose, depending on your campaign needs. If you're going heavy shugenja or monk though, these ones are really necessary, as there's 2 chapters dedicated to new spells and kiho in each. Plus, they all come with a more-or-less campaign generic location with plot hooks, so, fun stuff there. I have Earth and Air currently, earth focuses more on defensive aspects, such as rules for heavier armor (Crab full plate rocks), and castle defenses. Air has a heavy focus on courtly politics and dueling mechanics.


Strongholds of the Empire: The PDF/Print-on-demand release is pretty cool, but by no means necessary. Comes with a clan-specific location (although Lion/Imperial/Crane share one), and is a fun read. The ruins of Otosan Uchi get a good breakdown as well.


Second City: This box set is pretty fantastic, actually. A whole new campaign setting, that is very different from what standard L5R has to offer. Comes with a book about the Second City, a book about the people in it, a pretty solid campaign (just finished running my local group through it), some in-game props, a fold out map, a GM's screen, 2 props for the campaign, 10 dice with a bag, and stance/school tech cards. Once again, not necessary, but filled with tons of goodies and a really nice setting
 
I am going to breakdown the books he doesn't have listed.


Book of Fire is more offensively aligned, obviously. There's a good variety of knife-related paths, including the one I have been wanting since 4th Edition dropped: Ujina Skirmishers. They make knives pretty awesome.


Book of Water: I do not possess yet.


Secrets of The Empire: Pretty much the Imperial/Minor Clan/Monk/Ronin version of Great Clans. Including heritage tables!
 
A friend of mine has graciously agreed to lend me her copy of Enemies of the Empire! :D


So we should be good to go for the ronin game. I'll go ahead and get the write-up posted within the day. May the odds be ever in your favour :)
 
Ah, and excuse me for the double post, but as far as character creation goes, we'll be using one of two character creation rules: "Clan Ronin" or "True Ronin, Option #2". Please prepare accordingly
 
Does that mean we need to make two characters. Or does that mean you are going to choose at the time you make your post?
 
@griever I've been thinking on this a lot, and I think the character I had in mind originally would spend almost every waking hour trying to get readmitted into the Unicorn. Would such a feat be within the scope of the game you had in mind, or should I get used to the idea of her not getting the satisfaction, or start brainstorming a new character?
 
So- shall I start making Characters once you've set up a forum? Also, Griever, is it alright if I PM you with an Idea?
 
Apologies! Work kind of exploded on my project team yesterday, so the thread did not go up. Will try again tonight.
 
Delayed until further notice.


Work has exploded in a hot, fiery mess which I am attempting to run damage control on. And at the same time, my significant other decided that a very needy puppy would be the best way to surprise me over the weekend. I simply do not have the sanity or potential to GM a game for you all at this moment in time.


I will, however, be more than happy to return to this when I am no longer being pulled in five different directions.


Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize profusely.
 
Hmm. Well, if griever's out of commission, I guess I ought to reopen my interest thread (there was a bunch of interest).


I have two ideas, a Wall game where people play non-Crabs (for the most part) serving there for a season, and a more traditional Emerald Magistrates game, where you get to delve into the seedy underbelly of Rokugan to root out evil.


Thread's here.
 
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