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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010228" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Joe G Kushner, Staff Editor and Reviewer, d20 Magazine RackFortunes & WindsEdited by D. J. TrindlePublished by Alderac Entertainmnet Group (AEG)112 b&w pages, $24.95Sizing Up the TargetSometimes the mortal world just doesn't have enough in it to keep a hardy adventurer content. At times like that, when the urge to truly challenge your players is upon you, break out Fortunes & Winds and send them screaming to Toshigoku, the Realm of Slaughter or Jigoku, the Realm of Evil and have them work their way back to Ningen-do, the Realm of Mortals.First BloodThe book starts off with an introduction to the different spirit realms and provides some basic ground mechanics that can be used in almost any realm. Know how the Shadowlands has taint? Well that's just another form of control, something that almost all the realms have to one degree or another. A few magic items and feats help round out the introduction before the book does a chapter by chapter breakdown of each of the realms.In terms of game mechanics, there are templates to help represent the denizens of the different realms as well as shadeshifters as player characters. Ever want to play a Kitsune or a Ryu? How about a Tanuki or Koumori? All listed with their spirit points, stat modifications, favored class, bonuses and penaltiesCritical HitsEach chapter, while small, provides the GM with enough information to formulate some ideas and themes of what each realm is like. Take Yomi, the Realm of Blessed Ancestors. Imagine how easy it'd be to have the characters go off and search for an ancestor who knows a forgotten technique or seek out a family member for other hidden knowledge?The book incorporates the major events like the Battle at Oblivion's Gate and the War of Spirits, not to mention long ago past events like Iuchiban and his Bloodspeakers and the effects of Jigoku on the Shadowlands themselves. This allows the GM not only to see what effect these spirit realms have had on the setting, but can provide some ideas on how to use them in the future. In many ways, this book is the Manual of the Planes for Oriental Adventurers.Another useful tool is the Kenku Kenjutsu school, perfect for those Ronin who wish to augment their fighting abilities but can't learn any official style. A character who manages to win favor with the Kenku and learn all four ranks will be a devastating opponent able to copy techniques, double damage when using Power Attack and inflict void loss to opponents through powerful hits.Like most of their line books, the art and layout is top notch. Perhaps the art doesn't always fit the section like the monk with prayer beads summoning up a shady samurai spirit to fight some four-armed monstrosity in the colorless realm of Meido, but its quality work.For those wanting more information on the Seven Greater Fortunes, Tengoku provides the details. Want to know more about Bishamon, the Fortune of Strength or Jorojin, the Fortune of Longevity? How about the lesser Fortunes like Kaze-no-Kami, the Fortune of the Wind? The same section also provides details on the Elemental Dragons and Blessings and Curses of the Seven Fortunes, which either have to be taken at 1st levelas a feat or achieving through role playing later on.Another excellent element that's way too short is the section on "That which might have been", alternative version of Rokugan including one where Fu Leng wins the Second Day of Thunder among others. Great for those heroes who just can't do enough on their own world anymore or have run out of challenges.Critical MissesUnlike other books in the series, this one isn't 96 pages long but 112 pages and runs for the same price. Now if the discrepancy between the L5R and 7th Seas books has no internal consistency, you know there's a problem somewhere in the system. This isn't a complaint about the price of this book as much as a question to the company that charges the same price for books regardless of size.The framing technique, that of Tokei, a Shugenja who 'dies' while defending a small village, wandering through these realms one at a time, may not be everyone's cup of tea. While it works well as a framing device, it takes up space and if I want a 10-page short story, I'll pick up an anthology.The book doesn't do enough with each section. While it's only a 112-page book and it can't do everything it possibly should, the Shadowlands aren't a major player here as its in the mortal realm and only partially influenced by the realm of evil but I'm a long time player of L5R and I have two huge sourcebooks on the Shadowlands alone. How can a few pages of the realm of evil that feed the Shadowlands compare? Some of thechapters are just too short. I understand that Meido is the neutral realm where souls are judged but at less than four pages, was it worth even including for anything other than the sake of completeness?Another problem involves the use of the dual stats. See the book uses blue ink for the L5R game stats but the problem is that the blue ink is very dark making it almost the same as the black ink unless you're in very good light. For those who hate the dual stats, they'll really hate this book, as there are pages of game mechanics for the d20 system that are repeated for the L5R system.Coup de GracePerhaps if this book had been done up in a hardcover format with full color maps of the different realms and more examples of how to use it, this would be a critical element to any L5R d20 collection. As it is, it is a useful tool for those GMs who want to go past the standard Rogukan setting and see what the planes themselves have to offer.To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=3" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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