D&D 5E Adventures in Rokugan Arrives August 5th

Adventures in Rokugan is Edge Studios' official 5E version of Legend of the Five Rings, announced last year. Legend of the Five Rings is an East Asian inspired setting which goes all the way back to the 1990s, and was purchased by Fantasy Flight Games in 2018, before being moved over to FFG's sister company, Edge Studios in 2020 (which has taken over all the TTRPG operations from FFG, including Star Wars).

The 5E version includes new classes -- Shinobi, Pilgrim, Courtier, Ritualist, Bushi, Duelist, Acolyte -- and various new shapeshifting animal species.

It's coming out on August 5th and will cost $49.99.

Adventures in Rokugan brings the famous setting of Legend of the Five Rings to the ever-popular ruleset of the 5th Edition SRD. Players can explore this rich setting in a whole new light, and the familiar rules promise to engage an entirely new audience of roleplaying fans. Alongside a new focus on roleplaying activities such as dungeon delving and monster hunting, Adventures in Rokugan promises to provide something for all fans of Rokugan.

 

[Shardstone]

On top of that, I can never forgive "The Coastal Islands." I just can't do it. The Coastal Islands????? OooooOOOOOOOOOOH

EDIT: On the topic of Samurai code, the book literally lists the samurai code as an inspiration. Strange how much they tried to erase it and modify it if they want us to read it and use it as an inspiration for the game. Maybe I'm buggin', idk.

 

[Medic]

If people want to keep suicide in their fantasy Asia, then they have to keep colonialism in their fantasy Europe or slavery in their fantasy version of any part of Earth.

Nobody "has" to put anything in a fantasy world. The inclusion of those elements is typically done to add verisimilitude a setting in the form of politics, economics, and anachronistic philosophies. It's perfectly reasonable for a fictional setting that draws from historical events, samurai literature, and Japanese mythology to include societal precepts that were prevalent during the era in that region - doubly so if a part of the very premise involves confronting the hardships and responsibilities of being a samurai, if an embellished depiction of one.

This is also, ironically, a very Eurocentric way of looking at the world; believing that the values of other cultures are wrong if they do not align with our own "enlightened" occidental views.

Every real world culture/ethnicity has bad stuff in the past that has no place in the modern world or in our fantasy games or literature.

This is a facile way of approaching the subject. Literature can serve as a vehicle by which one can engage with difficult topics without actually experiencing them firsthand, tell stories of triumph and tragedy in a world that is unjust and otherwise indifferent to our needs, and if it's good, challenge us to reflect on ourselves. Come and See is an excellent example of fiction that brings suffering to light with powerful effect.

But if you disagree, maybe Nu-TSR has products you would be more comfortable playing.

Poisoning the well by alluding to the idea that people who disagree with you are bigots is not a good look.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, that's kinda why I'm okay with books not foregrounding that stuff. Some people want to use the setting for heroism without interacting with traumatic elements. Others are okay with stories that touch upon the f'ed up parts of reality.

In the ZEITGEIST setting I worked on, we mention several instances of genocide, slavery, human trafficking, and tyranny. But the setting as a whole isn't focused on that, and I'd have no problem if someone wanted to play a version of the setting where none of that comes into the narrative.

I'm good with not foregrounding them either. Not good with removing them.

 

[Shardstone]

Another note. The book explicitly says do not put ritual suicide in your games. It has a whole breakout box that quite literally says it has no place in Rokugan, and not to include it. I'm not sure if I agree, but I will need to do some actual research and talk to some people I know to see what they think on me including ritual suicide in Rokugan. I find it strange that this specific thing out of everything is what is banned as-is in the game book.

 

[overgeeked]

Anyway, I like the idea of an action-oriented L5R. I have the book right now, and have begun my deep dive. So far, I don't understand why they had to dial back so hard on the social mechanics. I feel having the action adventure with light social mechanics be the opposite of the core game's heavy social mechanics with light action (depending on campaign) would have been a more sensible decision.

Honestly, I'd like to have seem a more even split. Neither too light nor too heavy on combat or social mechanics. The more crunch the slower the game plays.

The removal of Japanese stereotypes and tropes is very inconsistent in this book, and some things historically wrong, like the City of the Khans, are still wrong, which is a headscratcher. It ultimately feels like the cultural consultant did an inconsistent and slightly sloppy job of modifying the setting in terms of names, paradigms, rules for using foreign languages, and so on.

Yeah, I think that's what bugs me the most. They're going to do what they're going to do, my choices are to buy or not. But if they're going to strip out the Japanese cultural references...why do it haphazardly and leave in or add so many non-Japanese cultural references. Yin Yang jumps out. There's suddenly an entire class based around Daoism and sorcery and alchemy.

That classes are super super super cool.

They are a dream for people who still want heavier mechanics and some 4E style combat in 5E. I think I've rounded the bend completely on this one and just shake my head. Why make every class that complex? There's lots of neat stuff in there, evocative and fun sounding, absolutely. It just gives me a stress headache thinking about having to go back to tracking dozens of conditions, dozens of resource types, on and on and on.

EDIT: On the topic of Samurai code, the book literally lists the samurai code as an inspiration. Strange how much they tried to erase it and modify it if they want us to read it and use it as an inspiration for the game. Maybe I'm buggin', idk.

It's not you. It's an incredibly bizarre choice.

 

[Shardstone]

Honestly, I'd like to have seem a more even split. Neither too light nor too heavy on combat or social mechanics. The more crunch the slower the game plays.

Yeah, I think that's what bugs me the most. They're going to do what they're going to do, my choices are to buy or not. But if they're going to strip out the Japanese cultural references...why do it haphazardly and leave in or add so many non-Japanese cultural references. Yin Yang jumps out. There's suddenly an entire class based around Daoism and sorcery and alchemy.

They are a dream for people who still want heavier mechanics and some 4E style combat in 5E. I think I've rounded the bend completely on this one and just shake my head. Why make every class that complex? There's lots of neat stuff in there, evocative and fun sounding, absolutely. It just gives me a stress headache thinking about having to go back to tracking dozens of conditions, dozens of resource types, on and on and on.

It's not you. It's an incredibly bizarre choice.

The game def could be streamlined. Frankly, I think if it used the Dark Souls position model, it would be perfect. That's low hit points (cuz you only start with 1 HD outside of combat), and in combat you get a lot of temp HP to use for abilities etc. Would have been a solid game using the class mechanics, where the resource is traded for position. Alas, such combinations are only possible only both books are published...

 

[Shardstone]

An ironic reading of the book is: the Hantei are still the emperors. Which means that the <<Explicitly Japanese Named>> culture is forever the emperor of the land, above every other culture that is now in the Rokugan canon. If they had wanted to remove this kind of haphazard splapdish of ideas, they should have just renamed the Hantei family and changed some of those Japanese elements about it. You can say this is an overly picky reading, but that's the kind of pickiness a cultural consultant ought to be looking for. I've both worked as one and have worked with them before; I'd love to see the style guide the consultant made for this...

 

[Umbran]

But if you disagree, maybe Nu-TSR has products you would be more comfortable playing.

Mod Note:
Treating people poorly is not the way. Please find a thread that doesn't tempt you to insult people.

You are done in this discussion.

 

[Shardstone]

I think an interesting idea that was missed was skills and elements. I think it would have been cool if you had no skills, you were only proficient in elements. And the ability score you use with the element keys to basically a different kind of skill. You would be prof in one element from class, and one from background. It is a roundabout way of doing skills, but I think it captures the ideas and importance of the five rings and would have opened up characters in interesting ways if you made element-required feats.

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:
By the way, folks, public mocking laughter at a moderation post counts as commentary on moderation.