Blue Rose and Legends of the Samurai question

[Banshee16]

Does anyone have Blue Rose and/or Legends of the Samura? I've been considering both products, and am curious...

I've got Oriental Adventures and several of the Rokugan supplements already.....does Legends of the Samurai directly replace them? How good of a take on Japanese fantasy etc. does it provide? If I've already got Oriental Adventures, is there material that could be ported across and used, or is it rather redundant to get the second book?

As to Blue Rose....when they talk about it being rules light, just how light is that? Does it lose all the detail from combat etc. in D20/D&D? I've read that is has replaced hp with a damage resistance roll or something of the sort. In addition, I've heard that it's a bit more of a freeform magic system...sort of a magical equivalent of the rules created for the Psychics Handbook. Could this system be imported into regular D&D to replace Vancian spellcasting? Perhaps it might be useful for something like 5th Age channelers/sorcerers in Dragonlance? Is there much from the book that could be exported into other games? I flipped through it at the store, but didn't have much time, so didn't get a full view, and I'm curious to hear from those who have it, as I've heard a lot of good words about it on the boards.

Banshee

 

[Wombat]

I only have Blue Rose so I can only speak from there.

Does it lose all the detail of combat found in 3.0/3.5? Yep. Personally, that is one of the reasons that I like it. No more AoOs to worry about, for one thing. Your character will also never achieve multiple attacks simply by going up in rank, though if I remember correctly there are feats that allow you this option. And, yes, all damage is resisted, rather than having hit points. I really like the magic system, but if you want a version of it to put into your standard D20 game, I would suggest picking up The Psychic's Handbook instead, as it is more geared towards the mainstream approach (multiple dice, damage vs. hit points, etc.). I wouldn't suggest trying to meld True20 with D20 -- the rules are simply too far off from each other in their conceptual base. This is not, strictly speaking, a combat oriented game, unlike standard D&D. The game emphasizes social interaction at least as much as combat. It is a very good game, but it doesn't port over well to a standard D20 game.

 

[WayneLigon]

GR's Blue Rose site has a few exerpts from the book that might help you decide about the system. The forums also contain some ideas. You might also want to wait for the more generic True20 book that should be out.. um, sometime, I forget when

 

[Banshee16]

Any feedback about Legends of the Samurai? Does it work well with Oriental Adventures or are they basically antitheses of each other?

So the magic system for Blue Rose will be in True d20, and better adapted for regular D20 games? I also liked the magic system from Black Company, and I've heard they'll be publishing it separately for regular D20 as well?

I read in a review that Blue Rose doesn't use hp, but instead uses a toughness role or something, so that with a lucky roll, even an expert warrior could be taken down by a beginner? IMO, that's kind of a good addition to the game, unlike regular D&D, where a lvl 20 fighter could theoretically eliminate an entire army on his own.

Banshee

 

[Ranger REG]

Any feedback about Legends of the Samurai? Does it work well with Oriental Adventures or are they basically antitheses of each other?

It would be difficult to make something for OA when OA material is not yet OGC, unless you're AEG making new Rokugan d20 products, but that is about to stop soon, if not already.

So the magic system for Blue Rose will be in True d20, and better adapted for regular D20 games? I also liked the magic system from Black Company, and I've heard they'll be publishing it separately for regular D20 as well?

The Arcana System can also be found in the Advanced Player's Guide ... or is it the Advanced Gamemaster's Guide? Anyhoo, both are published by Green Ronin.

 

[Turanil]

Any feedback about Legends of the Samurai? Does it work well with Oriental Adventures or are they basically antitheses of each other?

So the magic system for Blue Rose will be in True d20, and better adapted for regular D20 games? I also liked the magic system from Black Company, and I've heard they'll be publishing it separately for regular D20 as well?

True20 / Blue rose has nothing in common and nothing compatible with Legends of Samurai. On the other hand Oriental Adventure is reasonably compatible with Legends of Samurai (I have both). You could use both in a campaign setting. Legends of Samurai has its special spellcasting system based on spell points.

 

[der_kluge]

I'd like to find some info regarding how well True20 would work with monsters from MM, or ToH, and how easy it is to convert d20 modules for use with True20. I haven't seen any significant discussions regarding that yet.

 

[Psion]

I recently reviewed both Blue Rose and Legends of the Samurai.

Click on my username, view my profile, and you should be able to get to my recent reviews from there.

 

[Vigilance]

Chuck here, author of Legends of the Samurai. In addition to Psion's nice review of the print edition, there have been 5 reviews of the PDF, which can be found here.

http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2588561

 

[Herobizkit]

Converting d20 monsters to True20 doesn't seem too difficult. There are conversion rules in the Blue Rose supplement to direct any conversion attempts from or to d20.

When I think of the spell mechanics for Blue Rose, they seem more like super-powers than spells. They work all the time, and you only suffer fatigue if you fail a spell use roll. No fatigue = spells you can use all day long. There are very few direct attack spells in the game, and very few "buff" spells as well. Both of these types of spells can be carried over from d20 without a lot of effort.

I have to echo the happy-joy of minimal combat rules in Blue Rose. Combat becomes less of a chore/wargame and becomes a means to an end, ie beat the fight then get back to the story. Heck, most encounters are designed so that "mooks" are defeated in one hit; the "real" fights are between the heroes and the main villain(s) and cohorts.

Humans also get a big boost. They are the main race of the book. Each human race is from a different area of the campaign world, and as such they gain special abilities and feat choices based on their area of origin. I find this is much like the peoples of today, which is a nice touch. Oh, and there are psionically sentient animals, too.

I am thoroughly happy with my purchase of Blue Rose. Now all I need is a chance to USE it.