[AEG] L5R Encyclopedia and more

[Blacksad]

I will say, however, that if you have ideas for products you feel there is a demand for, please feel free to email me or someone else at the office. We're always open to fan suggestions.

I prefer messageboard BTW have you thought about a AEG message board? the current mailing list is really too cumbersome for me.

I will say something sad, but I do not feel like I "need" any new L5R product. (the old material is easily available, and the "way of" plus magic and creatures cover almost everything I could use).

I think you need to create something new (or seemingly new) to offset this feeling.

It could be an alternate storyline arc for the RPG like the thousand years of darkness or perhaps publishing Rokugan 2000 from Rich Wulf (using Spycraft rules for the d20 rules). Perhaps also Rokugan in its first years, when the kami lived among men.

Perhaps setting/rulebook for L5R that use other d20 book (some publisher seems willing to do this kind of thing), a Rokugan where Mecha replace the ancestral daisho using d20 Mecha from GoO; a sourcebook on the warlord of different period using one of the mass battle book (perhaps the one from Troll Lord?); A naval supplement for the mantis (also with d20 Mecha?).

Utility book: Castles and various cities maps; GM screen; spell book; Compilation of the winter's court info (daily life and magic, etc...).

Or the unexplored aspect of L5R, a way of the zokujin (though that would hardly be popular, you could transform it in a sourcebook for a special kind of dungeon crawl).

I see them as 192 pages Harcover or 128 pages Softcover depending on how much new rules you need to include.

 

[Cernunnos]

Well, once the Secrets books come out, just about everything will be updated to d20/L5R 2e. They've pretty much covered just about everything geographically in Rokugan, so I think they are starting to run out of "brand-spanking new" stuff. Like I said above, look at what still needs updating to d20: Nezumi, Nagas, Monks, and a few more things.
City books (such as City of Lies, but perhaps in a hardback form), might be a good idea, along with other Winter Courts... but with the 4 Winds, does this mean each of them will be holding their own court?
Way of the Zokujin might not be a great idea... from my understanding, there a very few left, and think about playing one. Its hard enough to play a nezumi. However, you could kind of tie all the previous suggestions together... maybe a nice big sourcebook on playing L5R in the time of the Kami, with info on the precursor races, and their empires.
Also wouldn't mind seeing something about the seas of Rokugan (maybe tie that into the Ivory kingdoms?). Granted, alot of the info was covered in Way of the Mantis, but it would be kind of nice to see some info on the Ningyo and the underwater Naga cities. Granted, I'll be the first to admit that NOBODY has EVER managed to make a good-selling fantasy underwater suppliment. The best I've seen so far has been Forgotten Realms Sea of Fallen Stars, and from what I've seen, that didn't sell really well (despite being a rather good sourcebook IMHO).
I'd like to see at least a half-dozen Burning Sands suppliments. You can figure that AEG could release a core hardcover, a monsters book, a magic book, and any new class splatbooks they created. Plus, country gazeteers, and maybe farm out a few adventures. TSR pretty much fully covered Al-Qadim in a dozen products, and it was one of their best selling campaigns... they were just smart enough to retire it when it hit its peak (probably one of the last smart things TSR did). But I'm glad to see that there IS a growing demand for Burning Sands.

 

[Shawn Carman]

Great to see all these responses!

There is definately interest among the writing team in producing an LBS supplement, but there's some question as to how well such a product would be recieved. Thus far, there's been no decision made. As I said in a previous message, there is another Shadowlands book in the works, which will update that dark realm to its current, disturbingly organized, Gold-era condition.

I can't really go into what's being discussed for post-Secrets, but I think that when the release schedule finally sees the light of day, some of you will find it very interesting.

Shawn Carman
L5R Story Team

 

[Cernunnos]

How about if you threw some very basic stuff on the website for LBS... like a 20 page pdf, with just some basic geographical/cultural data and a nice map? It'd be a good way to gauge reaction. And it wouldn't hurt to actually SEE for once just where these places actually are. Or, maybe a regular web column on the L5R rpg site? Something similar to Elminster Speaks on the WotC site, but maybe with a Rokugani character wandering the Burning Sands. It'd be a good way to tie in some of the fiction as well. Something along the lines of the the Chinese explorer Cheng Ho to introduce lands beyond Rokugan. It'd be low-cost, and you could let some of the writing team test the waters before diving in head first.
So, if LBS was to be rolled out, would you guys do it as a standalone product line, or as a branch of L5R? And would you write up a new system for it, or heavily modify the L5R 2e system, make it d20, or dual-stat? Like I said, the interest is definately there for SOMETHING.
Glad to hear you guys have a full plate... I've become a real L5R junkie with the new books. Wasn't insanely impressed with WotC's Oriental Adventures, but the more I read about Rokugan the more I liked it. Looking for to the Secrets of the Crab and Shadowlands
So, how far from now can we expect to hear about some of the post-Secrets books? No doubt months, but you've got me excited already.
Oh, and two suggestions: you guys REALLY need a message board on the AEG site (though its really awesome that you are reading ENWorld), and if you could release your web enhancements as pdf's a la WotC, that would be awesome as well.

 

[Purple]

I too, was brought back into the fold because of the D20 material. So far it's been a nice ride. I hope it continues. I am also the only person I know who happens to have a complete collection of Burning Sands cards. The setting described in the cards is beautiful and screams for an RPG supplement.

Ignore the naysayers. LBS is likely to draw even more people if marketed as a new setting for D20.

While it's only on a message board, I too have a full set of LBS, and really miss the game. With the mix of factions to draw from, I believe that a book for d20 using either the setting as it was in the card game, or else updated to the Gold edition timeline would be a great draw.

At least, I'd buy it.

Lee

 

[johnnype]

Getting back to the original subject, I still have to find the card encyclopedia myself. My local FLGS only purchased two (morons), They ordered more but that means I have to wait. I've been itching for this for a long time and it's nice to see it become a reality. However, I'm bummed to see that they excluded all of the cards from the Scorpion Clan Coup and the Clan War expansions. That deffinitely takes away from it's usefulness.

Regardless, I'm sure to buy it.