A Samurai Hack

Published by Thunderegg Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Kaigaku is a roleplaying game which uses the mechanics of The Black Hack to present an ahistorical take upon a feudal Japanese style setting. This is the Empire of Kaigaku, a giant peninsula ruled by alternating emperors—Hidari no Daiten in the West, Migi no Daiten in the East. The lands are administered in his name by eight clans over the farmers, artisans, merchants, and untouchables. These are the Atsumichi or ‘Iron Flowers’, the founders of the imperial court; the Chisaten or ‘Lesser Imperials’, those of the Imperial house who do not ascend to the throne; the Kakujima or ‘Wily Traders’, island merchants who have maintained their independence; the Kondo or ‘Forest Wardens’, who remain isolated in their woodland home; the Morimoto or ‘Snakes’, manipulative sailors who maintain good relations with Southern gaijin; the Shirai or ‘Keepers of Wisdom’, scholars and Imperial archivists; the Toguchi or ‘Hidden Blade’, fabled duelists and vitriolic demagogues; and the Watanabe, the ‘Vigilant Sentries’ who stand guard on the great western wall against invasion by foreigners. 

Kaigaku is rent by internal strife as the clans feud with each other for power and influence over both the current and the next Emperor. Each of the eight clans has its own Bushi who come together in great clashes on the battlefield or great duels of honour; Courtiers who engage in matters of etiquette and politics at court; Ninja who spy and strike from hiding; and Ascetics who learn aid others and study the Kiseki, the stones which fall from the sky and which give great power. All though, must contend with the Gaijin who sailed from faraway empires to trade with Kaigaku and those who live nearby. They include the Albar, wily traders and excellent sailors; the Cordova, religious zealots; the Kherin, horse lords and raiders from beyond the Western Wall; and the mysterious Uriwane. Of these, the Albar and the Cordova have brought with them gunpowder, which the clans willingly purchase to get the edge over their rivals. The Gaijin strictly control the sale of the black powder whilst none of the clans have been able to replicate it or the weapons that use it.

This all roughly analogous with the Japan of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, roughly when the Portuguese and the Dutch were in contact with the island during the Shogunate. Indeed, the Albar and the Cordova can be seen as the equivalent of the Dutch and the Portuguese. In the Empire of Kaigaku though, there is no Shogun, only alternating emperors.

Kaigaku is a Class and Level roleplaying game, which using The Black Hack mechanics, is ultimately derived from the d20 System. The mechanics are player-facing in that a player makes the rolls rather than the Game Master, so as well as rolling for his character to hit a target, a player rolls for his character to avoid being hit by his opponent. These rolls are typically made against a character’s attributes, so against Strength to make and avoid a melee attack roll, Wisdom to spot an ambush, Intelligence to win a game of Go, and so on. Unlike other Old School Renaissance retroclones, Kaigaku does not use Armour Class, but armour points, and uses the Advantage and Disadvantage mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition—two twenty-sided dice are rolled and the best used if a character has the Advantage, or the worst used if the character is at a Disadvantage. Kaigaku also adds a few tweaks of its own. One is Intensification. By reducing the target a player has to roll for his character by two for each level of Intensification, the amount of damage a character can do in combat is increased, the more impressive the action being rolled for turns out to be. The maximum level of Intensification a player can select is equal to the character’s Ryu tier level. Much of a character’s actions in the game will focus on rolls to check whether they are at Advantage or Disadvantage, for example in mass combat, in duelling, and so on, and the level of Intensification his player wants to apply. Another is in duels when both participants center themselves with rolls against Wisdom or Intelligence in order to see whether they are have at Advantage or Disadvantage in the subsequent strike. A third is the use of Honour, which enables a character to act with Advantage when invoked, but at a Disadvantage when acting dishonourably. 

One element common to fantasy interpretations of feudal Japan is some kind of magic. Kaigaku does not have magic, although there is a supernatural element which is just hinted at in the rulebook, so no spellcasters, whether sorcerers or priests. Instead it has Kiseki. These are gems, jewels, and precious stones infused with elemental power—Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void—which fall from the sky in great meteorite strikes known as seirakka and can harvested to be worked into the great arms and armour and other items to have impressive effects or implanted in the bodies of Ascetics for command over the elements. The downside is that the seirakka can send the local fauna mad and if an Ascetic implants too many, he too may be driven mad by the Kiseki.

Creating a character is a matter of rolling dice to determine the values for his six attributes—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma—and selecting a Class, a Clan, and a Ryu (or school). The four Classes are Ascetics, Bushi, Courtiers, and Ninja, and each of the eight Clans has a Ryu or school for each of the four Classes. A Class determines a character’s Hit Points, arms and armour use, standard attack damage, a special feature or two, and starting equipment. Choice of Clan provides a character with some general background, but primarily dictates which Ryu the character will train in depending upon their Class. Each Ryu grants five abilities ranked into five Tiers. A character receives three skills. One for his Station or upbringing, one for his Passion or hobby, and one for Duty or job. One of these begins at +2, the other two at +1. In play they add to a character’s attributes and will rise in value as a character rises in Level and Tier.

Aki
Level 1 Courtier
Clan: Kondo
Ryu: Watchful Owl

Strength 08 Dexterity 13 Constitution 16
Intelligence 12 Wisdom 15 Charisma 10

Hit Points: 8
Weapons: Wakizashi, knife
Attack Damage: 1d6 armed/1d6 armed/improvised

Skills
Station: Samurai Farmers
Passion: Animal Husbandry
Duty: Go Champion

Special Features
Advantage on Charisma tests to influence people/resist influence
Level 2 Contact in the clan

Tier 1: First Observation
Advantage when playing Go (Wisdom or Intelligence check). Intensify on the roll to inflict a penalty on opponent’s Go roll.

The focus in Kaigaku is very much upon the eight clans, their Ryu, their notable people, their relations with others—both of the empire and Gaijin, and an adventure hook or two for each of them. Together with the secrets of the clans and the factions, this takes up roughly half of the book. The rest covers the mechanics—old and new, character generation, some details on creating monsters and threats, although no specifics are given, all of which is drawn in fairly broad detail. There is potential in the interesting Kiseki, but 

Physically, Kaigaku is underwhelming. The full colour layout is clean and tidy, but the artwork tends towards a cartoon style and is pedestrian rather inspiring. Worse though, is the cartography which is so bland as to represent something that the Gaijin might know rather than the natives of the empire. The single map of Kaigaku might as been a blank page for all it serves the setting, forcing the Game Master to draw her own.

Now the first issue with Kaigaku is the opening sentence on the back cover blurb which states, “Kaigaku brings dramatic samurai action to your tabletop!” This is quite simply marketing hyperbole—or twaddle, because fundamentally, ‘dramatic samurai action’ never went away from your tabletop. There are roleplaying games which offered this before Kaigaku was published and after… What the author should have written is something like “Kaigaku brings dramatic samurai action to the Old School Renaissance!” and that would have been more accurate. The second issue is with another sentence on the back cover blurb with states, “This book presents you with a fully fleshed-out game setting that’s detailed enough to jumpstart your imagination, but light enough so you can make stories that you want to tell.” The second part of this sentence is true exactly because the first part of the sentence is not true. In no way, shape, or form can Kaigaku be described as a “fleshed-out game setting”. In fact, Kaigaku is incomplete. There are no monsters or beasts given; there are details of the foreigners or Gaijin either, despite their being constantly mentioned throughout the book; there is no history, not even a list of major events, and deliberately do so that the Game Master can write her own; and lastly, there is no geography, the map of Kaigaku being so bland and boring in its lack of detail that again, the Game Master would better off drawing her own. Arguably Kaigaku should not have come with a map just as it does not come with a history so that the Game Master can write and/or draw her own.

And yet, Kaigaku is a mechanically sound roleplaying game for anyone wanting a retroclone with samurai and ninja. Indeed, it is actually far superior to the woefully underwritten Ruins & Ronin [http://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/west-is-still-best.html]. Certainly, The Black Hack is a more than serviceable set of mechanics and just as it works in standard fantasy roleplaying, it works in samurai fantasy too. The design of the Classes are decent too and so are the mechanics new to The Black Hack core rules. And therein lies Kaigaku’s real problem.

For as playable as Kaigaku is, it looks and feels familiar to another Asian fantasy roleplaying game, Legend of the Five Rings. Now of course, when writing a roleplaying game based on feudal Japan there are going to be similarities between it and any other roleplaying game based on feudal Japan. There will be samurai, courtiers, and ninja, there be an emperor, and possibly, there will be Gaijin. Given that Kaigaku is an Asian fantasy roleplaying game, it mixes in China too so that there is a wall which protects the empire from dangerous foreigners looking to invade. So far, so expected.

But compare the new mechanics of Kaigaku with Legend of the Five Rings and the Intensification mechanic looks similar to making Raises in Legend of the Five Rings. In the latter roleplaying game, a player or the Game Master raises the target number the player has to beat in order to have his character do something with style or with greater accomplishment or overcome a greater challenge. For example, a player may only have to beat a target number of twenty for his character to strike a bandit, but if the player wanted his character to hit with more damage, then he might would raise the target number to twenty-five, thirty, or more, depending upon the number of damage dice the player wanted to roll. In Kaigaku, a player is doing the reverse, that is, lowering the Target Number, by a factor of two for each degree of Intensification, for exactly the same aims.

Similarly, the use of the elements in Kaigaku, are not the traditional five of Shintoism, Yin and Yang philosophy, and Daosim—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—as used in other roleplaying games set in ancient Asia, such as Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s Qin: The Warring States, but Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void. And Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void are the elements intrinsic to Legend of the Five Rings. Indeed, they are the five rings of the game’s title. Now in Kaigaku, they do not play as prominent a part, but they are present and one of the Ascetic Ryu, the Heavenly Fist of the Shirai clan, actually trains in their use to make elemental strikes with them.

Further, when comparing the Ryu for the ascetics, bushi, courtiers, and ninja in Kaigaku with the schools for the bushi, courtiers, and shugenja (priests) of Legend of the Five Rings, both consist of five levels, or Ranks in Legend of the Five Rings and Tiers in Kaigaku. When it comes to the individual Tiers versus Ranks, they also bear comparison. For example, ‘Dew on the Web’, the Tier 1 ability of  the Island Spider courtier of the Kakujima Clan...

“Make a Wisdom roll when you or someone you’re speaking with needs something material, such as a bottle of fine sake or an exotic perfume. The GM determines how many, if any, Intensifications you need to find the nearest source of that resource.”

...versus Rank One: The Way of the Carp, the first Technique for the Yasuki Courtier family of the Crab clan (all quotes from Legend of the Five Rings, Fourth Edition):

“The Yasuki are masters of commerce and practice far more openly than other samurai families; they do not consider it to be a breach of etiquette to engage in open commerce. You gain a free Raise when using the Commerce skill even in public. Also, Yasuki are taught from youth to be adept at sizing up their potential customers. When speaking with someone you may make a Contested Roll of your Commerce/Perception to discern some material object or service they want to desire.”

...and then, Rank Three: Treasures of the Carp:

“Your contacts in the merchant and commercial circles of Rokugan make it possible for you to acquire almost anything you might need to satisfy a customer. You may roll Commerce/Awareness at TN 20 to locate a rare or useful item, subject to GM discretion, for someone else. You may track down higher-quality or rarer items by calling Raises.”

Now neither of these are exact copies of each other. However, they do feel similar in design and intent. Another example is the Tier 1: Sure Positioning of the Frenzied Shark Ryu from Kaigaku, who are described as “...marines, sailors or just busi; their enemies call them pirates.”:

“You never suffer Disadvantage for fighting on boats, horses, or any other uneven or moving terrain.”

…in comparison with the Rank 1: The Way of the Mantis technique of the Yoritomo Bushi school of the Mantis clan:

“Mantis bushi learn to fight on the pitching decks of ships and to use anything within reach to as a weapon. You suffer no penalties to movement or attacks for rough or uneven terrain. You do not lose Glory or Honor when using improvised weapons, or weapons with the Peasant keyword, in combat. You suffer no penalties for fighting with a Small or Medium weapon in your off-hand if that weapon has the Peasant keyword. Finally, you gain bonus of +1k0 to all attack rolls.”

Now it is obvious that there is more detail to the techniques of Legend of the Five Rings, but within all that detail, there is content that is similar to that of Kaigaku. Perhaps some of the similarities between Kaigaku and Legend of the Five Rings are due to the author having contributed to the supplements Enemies of the Empire, Strongholds of the Empire, and The Great Clans, and therefore knows the fourth edition of Legend of the Five Rings. Given that degree of familiarity, the degree of similarity between Kaigaku and Legend of the Five Rings are undoubtedly striking. What can be drawn from that is another matter. The opening of the author’s introduction reads, “Kaigaku was a long time coming. I wanted to make a game system that captured the feel of other samurai RPGs without being a simple copy.” Which of course is not only a laudable aim, but exactly what you would expect from the design of a roleplaying game. Yet it does not feel as if the author has avoided Kaigaku “being a simple copy.” Rather it feels as if the inspiration of another game weighed too heavily upon the author when it came to designing his own game.

Screen Shot VII

How do you like your GM Screen?

The GM Screen is a essentially a reference sheet, comprised of several card sheets that fold out and can be stood up to serve another purpose, that is, to hide the GM's notes and dice rolls. On the inside, the side facing the GM are listed all of the tables that the GM might want or need at a glance without the need to have to leaf quickly through the core rulebook. On the outside, facing the players, is either more tables for their benefit or representative artwork for the game itself. This is both the basic function and the basic format of the screen, neither of which has changed very little over the years. Beyond the basic format, much has changed though.

To begin with the general format has split, between portrait and landscape formats. The result of the landscape format is a lower screen, and if not a sturdier screen, than at least one that is less prone to being knocked over. Another change has been in the weight of card used to construct the screen. Exile Studios pioneered a new sturdier and durable screen when its printers took two covers from the Hollow Earth Expedition core rule book and literally turned them into the game's screen. This marked a change from the earlier and flimsier screens that had been done in too light a cardstock, and many publishers have followed suit.

Once you have decided upon your screen format, the next question is what you have put with it. Do you include a poster or poster map, such as Chaosium, Inc.’s last screen for Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition?  Or a reference work like the GM Resource Book for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu? Or scenarios such as ‘Blackwater Creek’ and ‘Missed Dues’ from the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Screen for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition? In general, the heavier and sturdier the screen, the more likely it is that the screen will be sold unaccompanied, such as those published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for the Starblazer Adventures: The Rock & Roll Space Opera Adventure Game and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPGs.

So how do I like my GM Screen?

I like my Screen to come with something. Not a poster or poster map, but some form of reference material. Which is why I am fond of both the Sholari Reference Pack for SkyRealms of Jorune and the GM Resource Book for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu. Nevertheless, I also like GM Screens when they come with a scenario, which is one reason why I like the Game Master’s Kit for Fantasy Flight Games’  Legend of the Fifth Rings Roleplaying. As the name suggests, this is the Game Master’s screen and pack for use with the roleplaying game set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, but also heavily influenced by other Asian cultures. For what comes with the screen in the Game Master’s Kit is a scenario which builds on the campaign begun with the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game, focusing on a very different part of Rokugan.

The Game Master Screen is a four-panel affair in portrait format—as opposed to the trend for Game Master Screens to be in landscape format—done in sturdy cardboard. On the front is a panorama of a landscape, set before a wide mountain range. In the centre is a manicured garden a lake and islands connected by a bridge, whilst on the lakeshore stands a pagoda. To the left the lands become black and blighted, whilst to the right, the lands and mountains are covered in snow. What this actually depicts is Rokugan in its entirety, from the twisted Shadowlands beyond the Wall in the south to the mountains in the far north of Rokugan and the Phoenix Clan lands. In between are the delicate, almost pastoral lands of Rokugan itself. Altogether, this is a lovely illustration, if not necessarily an exciting one.

On the other side, what is clear about the layout of the screen is that despite there being a lot of information the designers could have put on here, they have opted for an open layout, so that the content is easy to read. It is also very clearly marked with the page references for when the Game Master needs to look something up in the core book. The basics of Legend of the Fifth Rings Roleplaying’s mechanics are summarised on the left-hand panel, including an explanation the five Rings, dice symbols, turn structure, how to make a check when performing an action, and skill groups, skills, and approaches. Some of this information is perhaps a little basic, but the table of skill groups, skills, and approaches is perfect. The inner left-hand panel gives sample tasks and task numbers, summarises the game’s stances for when a character is in a skirmish, duel, or intrigue, common conflict actions, silhouette sizes, unarmed combat damages, advantages and disadvantages, range bands, and examples of spending Opportunity in play. This last section feels a bit truncated and as if more explanation and examples were needed. After all, this comes up quite a lot in play and there is a whole page devoted to it in the core rules. The inclusion of the whole table would have been more useful.

On the inner right-hand side, the page numbers for commonly referenced rules are listed, along the initiative rules, NPC demeanours, the use of Void points, and Critical Strikes. On the right-hand side are explanations of common item qualities and common conditions. Overall, it is a useful and easy-to-read screen, but with a couple of issues. One is the aforementioned brevity of the Opportunity spends table and the other is that perhaps the combat information could have been better grouped together. 

The booklet which comes in the Game Master’s Kit is a sourcebook and scenario called ‘Dark Tides’. It describes a mysterious minor clan, its major holding, its strange mission, and provides a scenario set in that holding. The minor clan is the Tortoise clan, who turn out to be very un-samurai-like in comparison to the other Rokugani clans. They have regular dealings with peasants, with outsiders, and they can obtain things that other clans cannot and would consider dishonourable to do so. The Tortoise clan, its Kasuga family, and its Kasuga Smuggler School are provided should a player want to play one. In terms of design the school offers a variety of skills, both Social and Martial, but it places an emphasis on Trade skills above all else.

The clan holding is Taimana Choryū or Slow Tide Harbour, a swampy backwater port just north of the imperial city of Otosan Uchi. It is rife with crime, ships from all over dock here, and Gaijin walk the streets, but the Tortoise clan seem to give this no heed. All this will be a shock to any samurai which come to the port, which player characters will do as part of the scenario, ‘Dark Tides’. They are asked to find an imperial nobleman—described as a ‘wastrel’—who was last heard of in Slow Tide Harbour and has not been heard from recently. They will find the port bustling with commerce and business, but otherwise a sleepy little affair, the Tortoise clan content to let matters continue as they are without the need to rock the boat.

The adventure consists of three parts, each being quite different in tone. The first focuses on investigation and intrigues, the player characters discovering and following up on clues that point to various witnesses and potential suspects and attempting to get information out them. This is quite lengthy section and comprises the bulk of the scenario and may be a bit frustrating for players wanting a little more action. That all comes in the second and third parts as first the player characters track down the villains of the piece and final confront them. As well as well being a solid investigative scenario, ‘Dark Tides’ grants the Game Master the freedom to choose the villain of the piece, from a choice of three. Reasons are also given as to why they are involved and what clues point to their involvement.

The other thing that ‘Dark Tides’ does is continue from ‘The Topaz Championship’ from Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game and its donload sequel, ‘In the Palace of the Emerald Champion’. Thus the player characters are expected to be Emerald Magistrates and if they are, then ‘Dark Tides’ can be their first assignment. Alternative suggestions are given if they are not though, but that will make the scenario slightly more difficult since they will not actually hold any authority when conducting the investigation. Of course, neither the Tortoise clan nor the criminal fraternity in Slow Tide Harbour will go out of its way to be too helpful.

As well as being solid investigative scenario, ‘Dark Tides’ also does the ‘fish out of water’ aspect very well too. Any overly mannered or cultured samurai is going to find themselves very much out of their depth in the skeevy little port where peasants rub shoulders with samurai who rub shoulders with Gaijin. And despite the obvious disparities between the social orders in Rokugan, there is a nod in the scenario—a simple mention, nothing more—to the equality of genders and sexual preferences. It is not necessarily part of the scenario, but it is there.

Physically, the Game Master’s Kit is nicely produced. The screen is sturdy and accessible. The booklet is done on glossy paper with full colour illustrations just as the core book. Overall, an attractive package.

Any Game Master for Legend of the Fifth Rings Roleplaying will find the Game Master’s Kit in her game. The screen itself is useful and helpful in play, the scenario is excellent, and it introduces aspects of Rokugan not seen in Legend of the Fifth Rings Roleplaying—Slow Tide Harbour could become the basis for a campaign of its own were the Game Master to develop it and the players decide to play ‘less honourable’ characters. Besides dice, the Game Master’s Kit is going to be what the Legend of the Fifth Rings Roleplaying Game Master wants at her table.

Five Rings Get Their Fifth

It is a curious thing, but the latest iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying game is as much a descendant of John Wick’s 1997 adaptation of the collectible card game as it is the Fantasy Flight Games boardgames, Descent and Doom. Of course, as soon as it was announced that Fantasy Flight Games was going to be publishing the new edition, we all knew that it would be a major redesign rather than a re-implementation of the mechanics seen in the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Editions and we all knew that it would eschew standard numerical polyhedral dice in favour of a proprietary design marked with symbols particular to the roleplaying game, not just in terms of its mechanics, but also as an intellectual property. After all, it is exactly what the publisher did with both Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Third Edition and all three iterations of its Star Wars roleplaying games—Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, and Star Wars: Force and Destiny, as well as a Beginner Game for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thus, Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition does use proprietary dice and it is a thorough redesign, but the setting remains very much the same, the five elements—or Rings—have been more tightly integrated into the mechanics, and the core ‘Roll and Keep’ mechanic remains.

The setting for Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition is Rokugan. It is similar to feudal Japan, but with influences and elements of other Asian cultures, as well as magic and mythical beasts. Known as the Emerald Empire, it has been ruled for a thousand years by the Hantei emperors—the current emperor is Hantei XXXVIII—who have divided it between seven Great Clans. These are the Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion, and Unicorn clans. Although each is comprised of Samurai—the bushi warriors, mannered courtiers, and shugenja, priests who pray to the kami, or spirits, for aid, each is different in character. The Crab Clan use its strength to man the wall that protects the Empire from the Shadowlands, but its members are regarded as uncouth and ill mannered; the Crane Clan is known as the Left Hand of the Emperor and has many wealthy and influential politicians; the Dragon Clan remains aloof from most affairs in its mountain fast, but has sallied forth to aid the empire several times; the Lion Clan is the Right Hand of the Emperor, being devoted bushi; the Phoenix Clan is known for its shugenja and primarily concerns itself with spiritual matters; the Scorpion Clan is the Emperor’s Underhand and revels in its villainous status and reputation; and lastly, the Unicorn Clan is Rokugan’s cavalry, having spent several centuries in the Gaijin lands to the West. Notably missing from this list is the Mantis clan, which was a Great Clan in some previous editions of the roleplaying game, but essentially, Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition resets the timeline to before it was promoted from a minor to a Great Clan.

Our first taster of Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying—the fifth edition of the roleplaying game—was a ‘beta’, followed by the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game, a well-appointed starter box designed to introduce players to both setting and mechanics through ‘The Topaz Championship’, a new version of the classic scenario which had been used to introduce players and Game Masters to Rokugan and roleplaying samurai in previous versions of Legend of the Five Rings. This boxed set provided an explanation of the rules as well as several sample player characters, but only to a limited extent. With the release of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Core Rulebook, both players and the Game Master have access to the full rules and the means to create and develop the Samurai—the Bushi, Courtiers, and Shugenja (plus Monks in some cases)—who the players will be roleplaying as they explore Rokugan, fulfilling their duty to their clan, their daimyo, and the emperor, all whilst adhering to the tenants of Bushidō and at times being torn between their Giri (duty) and their Ninjō (desire). This all takes place in a setting that is inspired most obviously by medieval Japan, but also by the China and Korea of the period.

A character in Legend of the Five Rings is defined by his Rings or core attributes—Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Void; skills, organised into five categories in order of precedence—Artisan, Martial, Scholar, Social, and Trade; and Endurance representing his stamina and willingness to fight and Composure his capacity to endure mental and emotional pressure. Attached to Composure is a character’s ‘Personal Unmasking’, essentially his reaction after having suffered too much stress—or in game terms, ‘Strife’. For example, when Strife exceeds a bushi’s Composure, he might see the cause of it as a loss of face and demand an honour duel. A character’s standing in the world is represented by his Honour, Glory, and Status stats, whilst his Clan and Family represent his background and his School is his career.

Character creation is structured around ‘The Game of Twenty Questions’. This has always been part of character creation in Legend of the Five Rings. In previous editions of the roleplaying game, it has felt supplemental to the process, but in Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying it is integral to the character creation process. So in turn, the questions ask what clan and family a character belongs to, what his role and school are and what he was like at school, who his lord is and what his duty is to him, relationship to his clan, what he thinks of Bushidō, his greatest accomplishment, what holds him back, what he does to feel at peace, what his troubles are, who he learned from the most, what is most noticeable about the character is, how he reacts to stressful situations, his relationships, what his parents think of him, who was he named to honour, the character’s personal name, and how he should die. Although lengthy, answering these questions will help a player determine his character’s core identity, role and school, honour and glory, strengths and weaknesses, personality and behaviour, ancestry and family, and death.

In addition to determining a character’s Rings, Skills, Advantages and Disadvantages, Honour, Glory, and Status, the process gives a character his School and first School Ability. It also gives several Techniques which a player can choose from, further special abilities appropriate to his character’s school. These are categorised into Kata, Kihō, Invocations, Rituals, Shūji, Mahō, and Ninjutsu. Kata are combat techniques; Kihō are used by monks to align their ki with the elements and the universe; Invocations are prayers used by shugenja to speak to the kami and engage their aid; Rituals are lengthy ceremonies conducted by priests and spiritualists for various esoteric effects, such as sanctifying a group or person; Shūji are the social and verbal equivalent of Kata; Mahō is blood magic employed by the evil followers of of Fu Leng; and Ninjitsu are the secret techniques of the honourless Ninja. Although these Techniques use the same mechanics, what matters are their differing effects and opportunities they provide a character with when they use them.

Our sample character is Doji Maruko, a loyal and honourable member of the Crane Clan. Known for his creativity at school, he is currently in the service of Lady Doji Fujie as a scribe. His duty is to write the letters she is no longer capable of due to the arthritis in her hands. He dreams of becoming an artist renowned for both his brushmanship and his poetry. There are some who say he is attempting to make up for his short stature, whereas he is actually overcompensating for a childhood fall which left him partially deaf. It did not help that his father, the poet Doji Rhihito, pushed him with little regarded for his lack of hearing. He is always finely dressed, but sometimes there are ink stains on his clothing and his grandfather’s calligraphy set is never far from his possession. Maruko is named for your grandfather, who was a famous poet in his day.

Doji Maruko, Crane Courtier
Clan: Crane Family: Doji 
School: Doji Diplomat Rank: 1
Air: 3, Earth: 1 Fire: 2, Water: 3 Void: 1
Endurance: 6 Composure: 8 Focus: 5 Vigilance: 3
Honour: 60, Status: 35, Glory: 49
School Abilities: Lady Doji’s Decree
Techniques: Speaking in Silence, Shallow Waters
Distinction: Small Stature
Adversities: Deafness
Passions: Brushwork (Air)
Anxieties: Perfectionism
Relationship: Rhihito (father, poor)
Distinctive Features: Ink stained clothing
Unmasking: Breaks into tears when overly criticised
Skills
Artisan: Aesthetics 1, Composition 3, Design 1
Martial: Martial Arts (Ranged) 1
Scholar: Culture 2
Social: Courtesy 2
Trade:
Equipment: Ceremonial outfit, wakizashi, yumi, calligraphy set, travelling pack, attendant

Mechanically, Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying uses a ‘Roll and Keep’ system. What this means is that when a player character takes an action, his player rolls a number of dice—typically equal to a Ring and Skill or just a Ring—and keeps a number of dice equal to the Ring. For this, Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying uses two types of dice. One type is the six-sided, black Ring dice, the other is the twelve-sided, white Skill dice. Both are marked with a mix of four symbols. These symbols are ‘Success’, which indicates a character’s effective at an action or skill; ‘Explosive Success’, which counts as a ‘Success’ and enables another die of that type to be rolled if the ‘Explosive Success’ is kept; ‘Opportunity’, which provides positive, incidental benefits; and ‘Strife’, which are primarily negative effects on a character’s emotions. Where Strife can be accumulated until a character suffers an unmasking and shows his inner emotional turmoil, Opportunity can spent to remove Strife, to spot a particular detail, to perform the task in a pleasing fashion, and so on.

Yet it is not merely a case of rolling the dice. To undertake an action, a player needs to set three things for his character. The first action is to set an Approach—or ‘Stance’ in combat—but which one is determined by a character’s Rings. An Air Approach is graceful, cunning, and precise; an Earth Approach is steady, grounded, and thorough; a Fire Approach is direct, ferocious, and inventive; a Water Approach is balanced, flexible, and perceptive; and a Void Approach is enlightened, centred, and mystical. Each Approach indicates the Ring to use as well as provide certain advantages with conflict Stances. The second is to select the skill and the third is for the player to roll the dice and decide which to keep—preferably those with the most Successes and Opportunities. If the number of Successes exceeds the Target Number, two being the average Target Number, then the character has succeeded. After that, the player spends any Opportunities rolled and totals up any Strife rolled.

This is simple enough, but it is not merely a matter of a player selecting their character’s best Ring and rolling that in combination with the skill, for although that may have advantages in terms of the more Successes and Opportunities that can be rolled, it may not be the right Approach. Thus, if a samurai needs to get across a river via a rotten log, the skill to be used would be Athletics. Using a Fire Approach would enable a character to run across quickly without any danger of it collapsing under him, but with the possibility of his slipping off into the river. Alternatively, an Earth Approach is slower and more measured, with little likelihood of the character slipping off the log, but with the possibility of the log splitting under his weight.

For example, Doji Maruko is at winter court and is engaged in a poetry competition with Ikoma Jun’ai, an Ikoma Bard of the Lion Clan. The competition involves taking it in turn to refine each participant’s composition through the turn of the season as well as assessing each refinement. Ikoma Jun’ai has already composed the first poem and Lady Fujie turns to Maruko to ask what he understands of the composition. The Game Master rules that the first is a Void or Attune Approach if Maruko is to understand Jun’ai’s deeper meaning. The Target Number is two and Maruko’s player will roll one Ring die for Maruko’s Void and three Skill dice for his Composition, but only keeping one for his Void. The results of his roll are an ‘Explosive Success’ and a ‘Strife’, a ‘Success’ and an ‘Opportunity’, a ‘Success’, and a blank. Since Maruko needs two Successes, he keeps the ‘Explosive Success’ and the ‘Strife’, and rolls another Ring die for the ‘Explosive Success’. He gets the same result—an ‘Explosive Success’ and a ‘Strife’, enabling to roll a third Ring die. This gives him an ‘Opportunity’, the final result is two Successes, two Strife, and an Opportunity. Maruko’s player notes down the Strife and the Game Master explains that Jun’ai’s winter composition has subtly alluded to the chilly reception extended to the Lion Clan at this year’s winter court. Maruko’s player says that the Strife represents Maruko’s learning of the subtle insult and that he will use the Opportunity to lower the Target Number of Maruko’s next task as it will use a Ring other than Void. 

Now it is Maruko’s turn to compose a piece of poetry, one derived from Jun’ai’s winter composition, but adapting it to the theme of Spring. This is an Adapt Approach and so will use Water. This means that his player will be rolling three Ring dice and three Skill dice as Maruko has a Water of three and a Composition skill of three. The Target Number would normally be two, but this is lowered to one by the Opportunity from the previous roll. He rolls an ‘Explosive Success’ and a ‘Strife’ twice, a ‘Success’ and a ‘Strife’ twice, and two ‘Opportunities’. From these, he elects to keep both of the ‘Explosive Success’ and ‘Strife’ results, plus a ‘Success’ and a ‘Strife’ result. He can roll more dice for the ‘Explosive Success’ and ‘Strife’ results. These generate another ‘Success’ and ‘Strife’ result plus an ‘Opportunity’ and a ‘Strife’ result. Altogether, Maruko has the following results—four successes, five Strife, and an Opportunity.

Maruko has successfully adapted Jun’ai’s winter composition into a spring poem and works in meaning that the Lion should be more energetic in his hunt for a warming welcome. Since Maruko has now accumulated a total of seven Strife through the effort, his player is concerned that Maruko will accumulate too much in the next exchange and under the critical eye of Lady Fujie and Jun’ai’s implied criticism of the Crane Clan, Maruko’s Composure will be compromised and he be unmasked. He thus decides to use the Opportunity to take a calming breath and negate some of the Strife.

In comparison to previous editions of the Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying game, the one skill missing is that of ‘Investigation’. This is covered every aspect of conducting an enquiry or spotting things and because it was coupled with the Awareness and Perception stats, it was representative of how particular Rings were attached to certain Skills. In Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying, the old Investigation skill is replaced by a derived value, Vigilance. This becomes a Target Number for others to roll against when trying to avoid a character’s attention. Meanwhile, actual investigative actions carried out by characters are rolled for by their characters using an appropriate skill. So to determine the extent of a criminal’s crime, a bushi might roll an Earth and a Skulduggery check, but to work out why someone at court might be flustered, a courtier might roll Water and Sentiment. What this represents is the uncoupling of Rings and Skills for a more flexible approach to actions in the game. 

Another aspect of Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying is that in terms of design and mechanics, it does not fundamentally differentiate between its types of conflict scenes. Although there are technical variations, Social conflicts or intrigues, duels between individuals, skirmishes between small groups, and mass battles are all handled by the same core rules. The participants roll initiative, then from round to round, they set their stance which will determine how they will engage in the conflict and what Ring dice they will roll, and then roll for their action and resolve its outcome. Throughout, it is not necessarily enough for a player to roll the required number of successes to equal or exceed the given Target Number—either one, two, or three—but often he needs to roll Opportunities in order to gain extra benefits. These include working as a descriptor to show how a character does something, such as Air for doing it with precision, stealth, or subtlety, or as a narrative device, to add further details, such as with Fire to discern the motivations of others, gain insight, or notice absences. Now despite Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying employing a standardised set of mechanics and rules, supported by the Techniques which nicely provide each type of character—bushi, courtier, shugenja, and monk—with their own special abilities, it is with Opportunities where the mechanics get slightly more complex. This is because there is a plethora of different types of Opportunities to found in the mechanics, especially once the Techniques come into play, because every Technique is different.

Character progression is built around the expectations of the character’s School. A player is free to spend his character’s Experience Points on whatever Rings, Skills, and Techniques he wants for the character. The character’s School expects him to learn particular Skills and Techniques though, so if he instead learns Skills and Techniques outside of that curriculum, the Experience Points spent on those only count as half their value towards the total required to attain the next Rank in the School. For example, a Lion bushi is expected to train in Martial Arts (Melee) and particular Kata rather than the Courtesy and Sentiment skills and whilst he will gain the skills, he will not not have improved himself enough to further advance to the next Rank. The Rank by Rank—up to Rank 6—curriculum feels reminiscent of an earlier roleplaying game from Fantasy Flight Games, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Third Edition, which used more complex, but not dissimilar mechanics and a progression curriculum organised career by career.

Beyond the mechanics themselves, Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying provides a full list of equipment with which to arm and equip the player characters and their enemies. The Game Master is given good advice on her role and on running the game, with a particular focus on using social abilities—honour, glory, and status—in play. There are also suggestions as to alternative campaign styles, including campaigns where the players roleplay non-samurai or are samurai on great quests with the fate of the realm at stake. The former provides rules for creating characters of a Peasant origin, whilst the latter gives rules for creating Nemurani, the arms, armour, and artefacts infused with the kami. Lastly, there is a good bestiary of creatures, men, and monsters, both mundane and supernatural.

Understandably, much of the core rulebook for Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying is going to focus on the rules, especially given the intricacy of those new rules in terms of narrative rather than in absolute results. As well presented as those rules are, this does not leave a great deal of room for background to the Rokugan and the setting in general. What there is, is quite broad, such that anyone new to the game and setting may have difficulty knowing where to start. Of course, this will not be an issue for anyone familiar with the setting and anyway, a playing group could play through ‘The Topaz Championship’ from Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game and its sequel scenario if it has not already done so. That said, it would have been nice if Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying had acknowledged those familiar with the setting via earlier editions of the roleplaying game, since they are actually more likely to be coming to this edition of the roleplaying game than fans of the associated card game or samurai drama. Especially as Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying is not written as roleplaying game for anyone new to the hobby.

Another issue is that for anyone coming to Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying from either the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game or the preceding beta version of the rulebook is that there are changes between them. Now this is to be expected, but some of those changes to the rules are between Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying and the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game rather than the beta. This makes adapting from the latter to the former not as smooth as perhaps it should have been.

Physically, Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying is a lovely hardback. It is clearly written and it is illustrated with some excellent artwork which captures both the serenity and the strife intrinsic to the setting of Rokugan.  One absolute well-chosen touch is that the Ninjutsu Techniques are presented not on the standard buff-coloured pages, but across a two-page spread depicting city rooftops at night. It is such a perfect touch. Another useful element to Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying is the character sheet, which although not included in the core rulebook, is designed so that all of a character’s core stats and narrative information is recorded on the front, whilst all of the conflict information is recorded on the back, so that when the game switches to a conflict scene, all a player has to do is flip the sheet over and everything necessary is there right in front of him.

For anyone who has played a previous edition of Legend of the Five Rings, they will find a great deal that is familiar in terms of setting, background, and what they can play in the new addition. They will also find a new set of mechanics that at their core are simple and standardised across the various aspects of Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying. The new element of being able to combine any Ring with any Skill depending on the Approach—or how a samurai wants to do something—is not quite as simple, but it does give both characters and the game great flexibility, whilst the use of Strife and Opportunities allow for narrative elements to be more emphatically brought into play via the mechanics. Although the new rules are intricate in terms of the narrative elements they are bringing into play, Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying explains them well and does a good job of establishing the mechanics in support of the supplements and scenarios to follow.

Five Rings Get Their Fifth: A Starter

It is a curious thing, but the latest iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying game is as much a descendant of John Wick’s 1997 adaptation of the collectible card game as it is the Fantasy Flight Games boardgames, Descent and Doom. Of course, as soon as it was announced that Fantasy Flight Games was going to be publishing the new edition, we all knew that it would be a major redesign rather than a re-implementation of the mechanics seen in the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Editions and we all knew that it would eschew standard numerical polyhedral dice in favour of a proprietary design marked with symbols particular to the roleplaying game, not just in terms of its mechanics, but also as an intellectual property. After all, it is exactly what the publisher did with both Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Third Edition and all three iterations of its Star Wars roleplaying games— Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, and Star Wars: Force and Destiny, as well as a Beginner Game for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thus, Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition does use proprietary dice and it is a thorough redesign, but the setting remains very much the same, the five elements—or rings—have been more tightly integrated into the mechanics, and the core ‘Roll and Keep’ mechanic remains.

The setting for Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition is Rokugan. It is similar to feudal Japan, but with influences and elements of other Asian cultures, as well as magic and mythical beasts. Known as the Emerald Empire, it has been ruled for a thousand years by the Hantei emperors—the current emperor is Hantei XXXVIII—who have divided between seven Great Clans. These are the Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion, and Unicorn clans. Although each is comprised of Samurai—the bushi warriors, mannered courtiers, and shugenja, priests who pray to the kami, or spirts, for aid, each is different in character. The Crab Clan use its strength to man the wall that protects the Empire from the Shadowlands, but its members are regarded as uncouth and ill mannered; Crane Clan is known as the Left Hand of the Emperor and has many wealthy and influential politicians; the Dragon Clan remains aloof from most affairs in its mountain fast, but has sallied forth to aid the empire several times; the Lion Clan is the Right Hand of the Emperor, being devoted bushi; the Phoenix Clan is known for its shugenja; the Scorpion Clan is the Emperor’s Underhand and revels in its villainous status and reputation; and lastly, the Unicorn Clan is Rokugan’s horsemen, having spent several centuries in the Gaijin lands to the West. Notably missing from this list is the Mantis clan, which was a Great Clan in some previous editions of the roleplaying game, but essentially, Legend of the Five Rings, Fifth Edition resets the timeline to before it was promoted from a minor to a Great Clan.

As with the Star Wars roleplaying game, Fantasy Flight Games has released a starter set ahead of the core rulebook. This is the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game and like the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire – Beginner Game before it, it consists of a large box in which can be found several booklets, a map, a sheet of counters, and a bag of dice. These consist of a ‘Read This First’ booklet, an ‘Adventure Booklet’, four player character folios, a ‘Rulebook’, a map, and a sheet of full colour counters. These are presented in this very order as you pull them out of the box, though of course, being in that order, you really do wish that the box had a lid and you could take the contents out of the box, rather than having to pull them out of the top. Altogether, the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is designed for several hours of play in the land of honour and steel by four players and the Game Master. Further characters are available to download, increasing the number of players up to seven, as is a sequel scenario set after the events of the scenario in the box. Everything in the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is presented in full colour, on glossy paper, and feels professional—but then Fantasy Flight Games has done this before and you would expect nothing less than that.

The starting point for is Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is the ‘Read This First’ booklet. Although it provides a quick introduction to roleplaying and an introduction to Rokugan which sets the scene for the ‘Adventure Book’, this primarily gives an example of play which showcases what the players and Game Master are going to be doing. The ‘Adventure Book’ is clearly marked ‘Read This Second’ and is the introductory point for the Game Master. It takes her step-by-step through what is in the box, how to run the game, and how the mechanics work, along with a little advice before going straight into the adventure itself. An experienced Game Master—especially if he is familiar with previous iterations of Legend of the Five Rings—could run this more or less out of the box, a read through of the ‘Adventure Book’ would probably be enough to run the given adventure. A less experienced Game Master is probably advised to read through it with a little more thoroughness and possibly read through the ‘Rulebook’ too. The adventure itself is ‘The Topaz Championship’. This of course, will be familiar to long time players of Legend of the Five Rings, a version of the scenario having first appeared the core rulebook for Legend of the Five Rings, First Edition back in 1997. The Topaz Championship is the most prestigious gempukku—coming of age—ceremony in Rokugan and the Great Clans send their brightest and best to compete, for to graduate following the competition brings great honour to both participants and their respective clans, let alone the honour and prestige which is bestowed upon the winner.

As the scenario opens, four young samurai to be are making their way to the village of Tsuma in the Kakita Provinces of the Crane Clan where the Topaz Championship is held each year. The Emerald Empire is in turmoil, for the Emerald Champion, Doji Satsume of the Crane Clan, has died an untimely and mysterious death. The Great Clans eye each other with suspicion, wondering if the Emerald Champion’s death was more than an accident. Initially includes the player characters, but as events play out over the course of the three-day championship, they will learn to co-operate in the face of a mystery or two, some bullying ronin, and more, all the whilst competing against each other from one day to the next. Divided into eight scenes—with a break in the middle so that the players can upgrade their characters with some Experience Points—the scenario is designed to showcase as many elements of Rokugan, Rokugani society, and Legend of the Five Rings as is possible in those eight scenes. So there are interactions with the different levels of society, points of etiquette—such as gift giving, how to use skills, how to fight, encounters with the supernatural, a tea ceremony, good and bad manners, and more. It is quite a packed scenario, and that is before an experienced Game Master might want to add one or more of the suggested optional scenes (some of which will remind veteran players and Game Masters of previous iterations of this scenario). Overall, it is a good scenario and with the break in the middle should provide two solid sessions of gaming, perhaps more if the Game Master adds the extra scenes. Now if there is an issue with ‘The Topaz Championship’ it is perhaps that progress of both the player characters and their contestants could have been better tracked across the three days.

Below the ‘Adventure Book’ there are four character folios. They consist of a Phoenix shugenga, a Lion bushi, a Dragon tattooed monk, and a Crane courtier. Behind the full colour character portrait on the front, each introduces the setting of Rokugan, some information about the character’s Great Clan and its attitude towards bushido, a full character sheet, an explanation of the core mechanics—including what dice to roll and what the symbols on the dice mean, and a second character sheet with room for the player to note the upgrades and additions at the scenario’s half time. The character’s background is on the back of the folio along with a list of suggestions as to why a player might want to choose that character. All four character folios cover a lot of information, but it is neatly organised and easy to read.

Looking at the character sheet, there is much that will be familiar to veteran players of Legend of the Five Rings. Each character has five rings—Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void. These are his core attributes. He possesses various skills, which have been categorised into Artisan, Martial, Scholar, Social, and Trade sections. A character’s progress can be tracked by the familiar Honour and Glory stats, whilst Endurance represents stamina and willingness to fight and Composure is a character’s capacity to endure mental and emotional pressure. Attached to Composure is a character’s ‘Personal Marking’, essentially his reaction after having suffered to much stress—or in game terms, ‘Strife’. For example, when Strife exceeds the courtier’s Composure, she will break down into unseemly weeping. Another new stat is Vigilance, which represents a character’s awareness and perception and replaces the Awareness and Perception stats of the previous editions as well as the Investigation skill. Each character also has some equipment, an advantage which typically allows two dice to be rerolled when it comes into play, a school ability—a special ability learned as part of his training, and a note of his personal turmoil. The latter is primarily for roleplaying purposes. Also noted are the ‘Approaches’ a character can take and the type and number of dice the player rolls for each.

Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying, Fifth Edition and thus the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game uses two types of dice. One type is the six-sided, black Ring dice, the other is the twelve-sided, white Skill dice. Both are marked with a mix of four symbols. These symbols are ‘Success’, which indicates a character’s effective at an action or skill; ‘Explosive Success’, which counts as a ‘Success’ and enables another die of that type to be rolled if the ‘Explosive Success’ has been kept; ‘Opportunity’, which provides positive, incidental benefits; and ‘Strife’, which are primarily negative effects on a character’s emotions. Where Strife can be accumulated until a character suffers an unmasking and shows his inner emotional turmoil, Opportunity can spent to remove Strife, to spot a particular detail, to perform the task in a pleasing fashion, inflict a critical strike in combat, and so on. Five dice of each type are included in Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game.

To undertake an action, a character has to do three things. The first action is to set an Approach—or ‘Stance’ in combat—but which one is determined by a character’s Rings. An Air Approach is graceful, cunning, and precise; an Earth Approach is steady, grounded, and thorough; a Fire Approach is direct, ferocious, and inventive; a Water Approach is balanced, flexible, and perceptible; and a Void Approach is enlightened, centred, and mystical. Each Approach indicates the Ring to use as well as provide certain advantages with conflict Stances. Further, in the scenario, ‘The Topaz Championship’ has scenes where certain Approaches are favoured by various NPCs. The Ring also determines the number of dice to be kept after rolling. The second action is to select the skill. For the most part, the combination of the Ring and Skill will obvious and this is listed for each skill in the ‘Rulebook’, but there is an intentional flexibility here too as there are benefits to taking different Approaches to the various skills.

The third action is for the player to roll the dice and decide which to keep—preferably those with the most Successes and Opportunities. If the number of Successes exceeds the Target Number, two being an average Target Number, then the character has succeeded. After that, the player spends any Opportunities rolled and totals up any Strife rolled.

For example, Akodo Chinatsu is on guard duty at a border crossing when she is attacked by a bandit. First, her player has to roll her initiative. This is a Target Number 2 Tactics check. Chinatsu has Tactics 1, so her player will be rolling one Skill die. Her player decides on Chinatsu’s Earth Ring of 3 as her Approach—steady, grounded, and thorough. He will be rolling three Ring dice and one Skill die, keeping three. He rolls two Successes and two Opportunities. He succeeds and ensures that the bandit cannot use Opportunities against Chinatsu and spends the Opportunities he rolls to inflict Strife on the bandit.

The bandit attacks, but because Chinatsu’s player rolled more Successes, Chinatsu gets to strike first. Her player continues to use her Earth of 3 as her Approach and combines it with her Martial Arts (Melee) skill of 2. He will roll three Ring dice and two Skill dice, keeping three of them. He rolls two ‘Successes’, an ‘Opportunity’ and a ‘Strife’, and an ‘Explosive Success’ and a ‘Strife’ twice—some faces of the dice have two symbols rather than one. Of these, he must keep three. This will be the two ‘Explosive Success’ and a ‘Strife’ result and one of the ‘Success’ results. He rerolls the ‘Explosive Success’ results to add one more ‘Success’ and a ‘Success’ and a ‘Strife’. The results are as follows: five ‘Successes’ and three ‘Strife’. This is increased to six ‘Successes’ and decreased to two ‘Strife’ by Chinatsu’s School Ability of ‘Way of the Lion’. The ‘Strife’ is recorded, Chinatsu concerned that she might fail in her first combat. The Target Number for the Martial Arts check is 2, so Chinatsu has succeeded and still have four Successes left over. These her player decides to apply to the damage Chinasu’s katana inflicts, which is four—so the bandit suffers eight damage and is not looking very healthy.

In general the rules have shifted towards a narrative style of play whilst retaining many of the elements intrinsic to the mechanics of previous versions of Legend of the Five Rings. Fortunately, they appear not to be a complex as those found in Star Wars: Edge of Empire et al or indeed, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Third Edition. The Rings, especially with the use of the Approaches feel better integrated into the game and are likely to offer some interesting nuances and wrinkles which will become apparent with play.

The last book in the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is the ‘Rulebook’ and is marked ‘Read This Last’. The longest book in the box, this explains the rules, covering the rules and the elements of the character in more detail. It also details skills, equipment, and various NPCs and threats, both mundane and supernatural. This provides enough of an explanation and enough content certainly to play through ‘The Topaz Championship’ and its sequel. The last two items in the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is a map sheet and a set of counters for use on the map. The map is double-sided. On the one side is an A3 map of Rokugan, which is attractive if not necessarily all that detailed, whilst on the other are maps of Tsuma, where ‘The Topaz Championship’ takes place and of the ‘Castle of the Emerald Champion’, where the sequel scenario takes place. These are much more detailed, the castle in particular done in almost isometric cutaway fashion. All three maps are done in muted colours and have a suitably period feel to them.

Fantasy Flight Games has plenty of experience when it comes to designing this type of starter box and so the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game feels professional  and well put together. Now on one level, with just ‘The Topaz Championship’ to be found inside its box, it does not feel as if there is a great deal of play value to be got out of just the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game—just two or three sessions. That though is not really fair as the sequel provides several more sessions of play and anyway, the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is only designed to provide an introduction to Rokugan and its roleplaying game. Which it does very well—and more, given that it comes with the proprietary dice, the character folios, the maps and counters, which are not only attractive, but which can also be used with the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying, Fifth Edition core rules.

Overall, the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Beginner Game is nicely put together package, which deftly introduces the setting of Rokugan and showcases the rules for new players, whilst deftly showcasing what is different with the rules for veterans as well as allowing them to replay ‘The Topaz Championship’ once again.

Honour within the Moment

Most games about Japan focus upon that most familiar aspect of its history—the samurai. From FGU’s Bushido and AEG’s Legend of the Five Rings to Avalon Hill’s Samurai and dV Giochi’s Samurai Sword, the focus is upon the role and position of the military nobility that dominated Japan for eight centuries. Although the samurai have a role in the latest RPG to be set in historical Japan, they are not its focus. That RPG is World of Dew: A Blood & Honor Sequel, a Samurai Noir role-playing game in which the samurai and the samurai clans are in decline. It is set during the Tokugawa shogunate—a time of great change despite the order imposed by the new regime. Into their stead come vivacious geisha, ill-mannered gaijin, honourable yet-crooked yakuza, nosy police detectives, great sumo, greedy merchants, unfortunate ronin, and more. Inspired by the great Chambara movies like Seven Samurai  and Laura Joh Rowland’s Sano Ichiro novels, it is their stories—stories of corruption, greed, betrayal, lust, murder, cynicism, love, loss, and more—that will be told in the rain-soaked great cities of Japan in A World of Dew.

Launched via Kickstarter and published by Woerner’s Wunderwerks, as its subtitle suggests, a World of Dew is a sequel to John Wick’s Blood and Honor, the RPG that dealt specifically with tragedy and failure of the great clans during their height. It is a storytelling RPG in which the players take the roles of characters other than the samurai seen in Chambara movies—though it is possible to play samurai in the game. They will not only create their characters, but the city itself, populating it with places, people, and threats, before playing out mysteries and intrigues from one season to the next.

Although set during the Tokugawa shogunate, there is some flexibility as to when a game can be set. Suggestions include the period following the defeat of its clan enemies when Dutch and English Protestants feud against the Spanish and Portuguese Catholics for economic and spiritual influence; during the heights of the Shogunate’s power when Japan was completely closed; and at its nadir, when the West has forced it to open up to its merchants and its innovative technologies, bringing with it social conflict between ancient traditions and radical reform. Although there are no mechanical differences in terms of storytelling between these time periods, they nevertheless determine some of the outré character options available as well as the technology.

Each character is defined by his Giri, his Virtues and Aspects, and an Advantage, plus his Glory, Honour Points, and Ninjo Points. The Giri is his occupation or duty, which can be Artist, Doctor, Gambler, Geisha, Holy Person, Merchant, Police Inspector, Ronin, Servant, Soldier, Sumo Wrestler, or Yakuza, and which grants a character bonus dice, an ability, and a benefit. For example, Yakuza gains bonus dice equal to his Giri Rank when undertaking a criminal action condoned by his gang; the ability to gain Honour Points when protecting his gang and the locals of your district; and the benefit of help from his fellow gang members when given tasks by his oyabun. He has a reputation attached to his Glory Rank, such as “Fair Man” or “Skilled swordsman”.

His core attributes are his six Virtues—Beauty, Courage, Cunning, Prowess, Strength, and Wisdom. One of these is set Rank 4, two are set at Rank 3, two at Rank 2, while the last is a Weakness. He also has three Aspects, though he may have more depending on his age. There are only a few of these and they work as they do in Evil Hat Productions’ FATE Core rules. For example, a character has the Aspect, “Do not stand in the Melon Field” because he believes that face and honour are important. When a player ‘invokes’ it as “Do not stand in the Melon Field… under the Plum Tree”, he gains three dice in a difficult social situation to maintain his face and honour. When it is compelled, he tends towards over analysis and inaction. Lastly, he has an Advantage—it might be that he is a Prodigy at a sword or sumo school or he has gaijin gear or that he holds a Social Position. It is possible to take further Advantages, but at a cost of a Virtue Flaw for each one.

Our sample character is Sagara Kiosho. A former samurai, the dispossession of his clan and the death of his parents left him on the streets. Initially he had a little money, but this did not last long and within a few weeks he was penniless and alone. Worse, the weather turned and a chill turned worse.  The young boy was found and taken in by an Oyabun, Noboru, but by then it was too late—Kiosho was suffering from tuberculosis. He recovered, but has been weakened ever since, some days not having the strength to serve his adopted father. Kiosho tries to bring the honour upheld by the samurai despite the tasks that his adopted father assigns him. He wishes to know the circumstances that brought about the dispossession of his clan and has a dislike of authority of the shogunate. 

Sagara Kiosho
Rank 1 Ronin

VIRTUES
Beauty—Rank 2
Courage—Rank 4
Cunning—Rank 4
Prowess—Rank 3
Strength—Weakness
Wisdom—Rank 2

Glory Rank 1—“A fair man”
Honour Points 2, Ninjo Points 1
Desire: To discover how his clan was dispossessed

ASPECTS—“ Do Not Stand in the Melon Field”, “Luck Exists”, “Entering the Tiger’s Cave”
ADVANTAGE—“Prodigy”, “Blessed”
FLAW—Courage “Fear of Dishonour”
SWORD SCHOOL—Wind (2)

At the end of character creation, the players agree how their characters know each other and then dive into city creation. The GM may research a real city, but he should discuss with players what themes they want to explore, perhaps foreign trade, religious strife, smugglings, and so on. A city also begins with several locations, a stronghold and then a location for each of the player characters’ Giri—a gambling den for a Yakuza, a surgery for a Doctor, a sumo school for a Sumo Wrestler, for example. The players, now armed with five free City Points, work with the GM to add locations, threats, organisations, faces (NPCs), and other elements, each costing a City Point. When adding these elements, a player also assigns three True Things about each. Each of the locations not only forms the landscape for the adventures, but also places where Season actions can be spent. Further, each location provides a bonus. For example, bonus Beauty wagers and Rumours can be gained at the Geisha House.

Dice are rolled whenever a risk is involved and whenever the outcome of the action will influence the plot or characters. The aim of any roll is to gain narrative rights—if the player fails the roll, then either an opposing character gains the rights or the GM does. If appropriate, a player gains six-sided dice from one of his Virtues, an Aspect, his Giri, and even his name. Other dice might come from tags that can be attached to places and the character. The player never has to roll more than ten on the dice, no matter how many dice he has to roll. This is enough to gain him the privilege of narration rights, but if he wants more than that, he can set dice aside as wagers. If he rolls more than ten, then for each of his wagered dice, he can add another detail.

Kiosho has been sent by Oyabun to speak to Sugu, a fellow gang member who Noboru suspects is not paying the full amount of the tribute he is due. Kiosho arrives at Sugu’s hangout to find it on fire! From inside the building Kiosho can hear cries of pain. Being brave and foolish, Kiosho dives into the burning building to rescue whomever is inside… So Kiosho’s player grabs up four dice for his Courage Virtue; a die for his name—though not for family name as that would not impress Sugu; and lastly, he invokes his “Entering the Tiger’s Cave” Aspect for another three dice. That gives him a total of eight dice to roll. Kiosho’s player believes that four are enough and sets aside the other four as wagers. The results of the four dice are 2, 3, 3, and 6 for a result of 14—enough for Kiosho to gain privilege.

For his privilege, Kiosho’s player narrates that he rushes into the burning building and manages to find Sugu. He takes two of the wager dice and narrates the following…

As he hefts Sugu over his shoulder, Kiosho hears the cry of a woman coming from another room…

…and when he goes to the rescue of the woman, he discovers that she is holding a piece of a kimono in her hand. The mon on the kimono matches his own…

Of the other two wager dice, Kiosho’s player converts them into Glory and gains “Brave before fire” as a Rank 1 Reputation.

Combat in a World of Dew uses the same mechanics—the number of dice to be rolled are determined and then any wagers are set aside in secret. Whomever rolls highest gains privilege and his wagers to add narration. The defeated opponent loses half his wagers, but can still use the remainder to add narration. With just one dice roll to determine the outcome, combat itself is very fast. It gets slightly more complex depending on the nature of the fight, whether it is a Strike—a surprise attack in which a player yells “Strike!” to attack first in a brilliantly elegant mechanic, a Duel, or Mass Murder. It also gets increasingly deadly, especially when katanas or firearms are involved. Injuries themselves are ranked from 1 to 5, with Rank 1 injuries healing in a day, Rank 2 injuries taking a week to heal down to Rank 1 injuries, and so on up to Rank 5 injuries that take a whole year to go down to Rank 4! In the meantime, others can tag your injuries for bonus dice! The aid of a doctor in a World of Dew is almost mandatory if a character is to survive, but even then this is not a game in which you should rush into combat unless you are sure of the outcome.

For example, Kiosho has managed to get the girl out of the burning building and then gone back into get Sugu. At this point the GM intercedes with a Story Point and inflicts a Rank 2 injury on Kiosho due to weak Strength Virtue. Kiosho has a nasty burn on his leg, but he does get Sugu and the GM does reward him with an Honour Point. When he gets outside, Kiosho finds Junzō and Norio—Sugu’s lieutenants—ready to remonstrate with him. Norio is holding the girl, but Kioshio is wary of Junzō who looks like he might attack. Before the gangster can draw his sword, Kiosho’s player shouts “Strike!”

As he shouted “Strike!”, Kiosho gets two bonus dice. He also gets a die from his Giri because he is involved in violence; three dice come from his Prowess, a die for his name; another two dice come from his sword school training and as a Rank 1 Ronin he adds +2 to the final roll. This gives him a total of nine dice to roll. Kiosho’s player secretly sets aside five of these dice as wagers.

The GM rolls for Junzō and Norio together. They are relatively lowly Yakuza so only have Prowess 2 each—which the GM combines to give four dice. They also tag Kiosho’s Rank 2 injury for two more dice, which gets him the reward of a Ninjo Point. The GM knows that Kiosho will be a better opponent, but Junzō and Norio are loyal to Sugu and are desperate to stop the ronin. So he only sets aside two dice as wagers.

Kiosho rolls 2, 3, 6, and 6. Together with is Giri bonus, he has a total of 19. Junzō and Norio together roll 2, 3, 5, and 5 for a total of 15. Kiosho has Privilege and three wagers to spend whilst Junzō and Norio, successful in their attack, have to discard half of their wagers, leaving them with only one. Kiosho begins the narration…

…Kiosho unburdens Sugu directly at Junzō who is sent sprawling and suffers a Rank 1 injury.

…Then draws his katana and leaps to attack Norio. (His player expends another two wagers to raise the Rank 1 injury to a Rank 3 injury). Norio suffers a savage slash across the face and falls backwards dropping the girl in the process. (At this point, Kiosho’s player lets the GM spend his only wager).

…Struggling from under his boss’ body, Junzō discovers Sugu’s pistol which had hidden in his kimono. He draws and cocks it, and sitting up, fires it at Kiosho. The ronin is hit in the back with a shot that will kill him. (Firearms are that deadly and inflict a Rank 6 injury! Kiosho will need to expend an Honour Point to lower this to a survivable Rank 5 injury, but not yet. Kiosho’s injuries will not take effect just yet. He still has wagers to spend).

…Kisoho drags himself across to Junzō to land one last blow before he collapses. This and raising the attack to a Rank 2 injury uses up his last two wagers.

Mass Murder is even deadlier because all sides keep their wagers if they roll successfully. World of Dew is arguably one of the deadliest systems available! It is also possible to spend wagers to establish true facts about the game. In contested rolls, both players get to spend wagers—all of them by the winner of the contested roll, but half of his wagers by the defeated player.

At the heart of the game there is an economy involving Honour Points, Ninjo Points, and Story Points. Drawn from a communal pool, Honour Points are spent to gain bonus dice in a risk, to add details to the story, create a Scene Tag that everyone can activate, or to benefit from a Location effect. A character can add to the Honour Point pool by undertaking a risk that is honourable or to the benefit of others. If Honour Points represent a character acting in the interests of society rather than himself, then Ninjo Points represent his desire. They only grant two bonus dice and they can only be used to help the character—not others—and only towards his Desire. Whilst Ninjo Points can be used to add details and create tags just as Honour Points can, only the character who created them can see them. 

Whenever a character spends an Honour Point or a Ninjo Point, it goes into the Story Pool as a Story Point. These can be drawn by the GM to actually to add to, or change, the plot. Further this can actually contravene a truth already established in the game—the only way that this can be done once a truth has been established. Essentially this is a means to add uncertainty to the game, even down to the author suggesting that the GM almost threaten to draw from the Story Pool!

t should be noted that this economy is only one way. Spent Honour Points and Ninjo Points go into the Story Pool, but spent Story Points do not go back into the Honour Pool. The only way to gain more Honour Points is earning them.

The characters’ adventures, or rather stories, take place across Seasons during which the characters have actions that they can undertake in addition to their stories. Usually these are built around the locations developed during the act of creating the city, so might include time spent studying at a swordsmanship school, crafting a beautiful piece of poetry, or rooting out corruption at the Magistrate’s Court. Locations may also generate trouble during a Season and this may lead to new stories.

Another area where a World of Dew differs from the more traditional Japan-set RPG is in its treatment of the outre. Simply, there is none and the game does not provide rules for the inclusion of the supernatural. This is not to say that it could not exist within A World of Dew—and the example of city creation suggests that it could—but the GM would be on his own if he wanted to add it. Magic could also exist in a World of Dew, but the guidelines given draw very much of the beliefs of the characters rather than on a codified set of rules. This applies no matter what the faith—Buddhism, Christianity, or Shintoism.

As a game of Samurai Noir, World of Dew is fundamentally different to the Noir genre as we know it in the West. In traditional Noir, the hero—of which Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are the perfect imperfect examples—goes out to solve a mystery or problem through pure self-determination and individualism, which is anathema to the Eastern hero. He instead subsumes his self-determination and individualism into the greater good, adhering to his duty rather than his desires in pursuit of a mystery or problem. Thus a World of Dew presents a roleplaying challenge—one of course seen in other Japan-set RPGs—that is further exacerbated by the social upheaval that Japan is undergoing throughout the period described in the game. A social upheaval that seems to favour desire over honour...

The primary way in which a World of Dew enforces its genre is by asking the player to have his character do one radical thing—fail. The player in a World of Dew has a great deal of control over the narrative. He can spend Honour Points to add to the game and he can narrate events and add true facts using his wagers. When he does so, he creates truths—truths that unless the GM spends a Story Point cannot be undone. So it would be easy for the player to simply narrate his success, but that would not be in keeping with the genre. Instead a World of Dew asks the player to ‘fail forward’, that is to drive the plot forward with his character’s failure. Not just ‘yes’, but ‘yes and..’ as well as ‘yes, but…’ It is asking a lot of the players, but in playing the game they should buying into it anyway. This is in addition of course, to the players having their characters conduct themselves honourably in support of the greater good order to gain Honour Points. Not only is this very in-keeping with the Japan-set RPG, it also fuels the Honour-Story Point economy.

Physically, a World of Dew is tidily presented with some beautifully vibrant art. Its main weakness is the lack of an index, but otherwise the book decently written with solid advice for player and GM alike. Some players though, may balk at being penalised with an Honour Point for causing a distraction!

As an RPG design, World of Dew is a very contemporary design, with mechanics that encourage a certain style of play, but still with the need for a narrator or GM. It is a storytelling game that takes its cue from a haiku, A World of Dew, and is about the struggle within a moment, one at a point of change, all caught within the dewdrop. World of Dew is beautifully immersive, drawing in the GM and player alike with the chance to tell stories in a fascinating period of history, one at a point of change.