L5R classic vs. L5R d20

[Paka]

IT is the fear of being crippled in one good shot that I really liked about Classic L5R. One understood why war was fearsome and people were more polite for it.

I also like the beauty of the character sheets. They were pretty.

Also, when you got better at a skill you got to roll more dice. You could feel your character's experience in your hands. That one some level is very satisfying.

This post has gotten me thinking about it and I think that if I were to run L5R tomorrow I would run it D20 but with a different Hit Point system that made combat far more dangerous.

Far more dangerous.

D20's Prestige Class system really work for L5R. I ran a game and a player STARTED as a Kuni Witch Hunter. I know that I should have just changed the rules around so that he wasn't recognized as a Hunter in his own right until 3rd rank but still, the Prestige Class system works well in L5R.

Magic is something I haven't thought about and is a whole other can-o-worms. That might need some tooling too.

I don't like the D&D magic system much after playing Ars Magic for years. I liked the Classic's system. It was loose and while it listed powers much in the same way D&D does, there was some wiggle there.

To sum up:

I'd play a modified D20, throw out all of the card game meta-plot hoo-ha, play up all of the cultural/political hoo-ha and have a blast.

A good friend who is more knowledgeable about the classic's system disagrees...but hey...

May I reccommend the Book of the Shadowlands for ANYONE playing in ANY Oriental Adventures game. It is really a beautifully illustrated and written book, a must for anyone making OA or Rokugani monsters jump from under the sleeping mats of their players.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Oh ho, thanks for reminding me. L5R had the coolest magic system i've seen. It was unique but i could see it used in western settings too. I think the base spell+raises replicates fantasy alot more than anything else ive seen, especially level based stuff like d20.

 

[Black Omega]

May I reccommend the Book of the Shadowlands for ANYONE playing in ANY Oriental Adventures game. It is really a beautifully illustrated and written book, a must for anyone making OA or Rokugani monsters jump from under the sleeping mats of their players.

This is an excellent book, both it and the Book of Jade: Second Book of the Shadowlands. Nothing much fore the d20 rules but the information and feel is great.

 

[Pyske]

I'm currently running a D20 Rokugan game; I agree with Paka that I much prefer the older timeline, but I have had little difficulty adjusting it for use with D20. I use the "Way of the ..." books for NPCs and player inspiration, and the campaign is heavily-inspired byt the City of Lies boxed set (and originally 7th Sea's Frieburg and ED's Vivane, culturally converted, but those two cities have gone out of scope a bit).

My impressions of the system: the one shot kill / maim is still quite possible using the Iaijutsu Focus rules, after which you enter the "clashing swords and minor wounds" combat mode, which I also like.

I plan to write a review eventually on why D20 Rokugan eases many of the difficulties of DMing in D&D. Some quick highlights (since this is off-topic): Harm = maho, CN discouraged societally, Fly & teleport unavailable, built-in character hooks (duty), incentives for political maneuvering (Emperor's favor), etc.

Magic of Rokugan was in some ways broken (MHO here) and removed some of these advantages, but had some great concepts (Invoke Kami, Smith class, nemanuri).

As to the main thread of comparing the systems: classic power levels compare to mid-range D20 levels: the starting samurai or shugenja is weaker in D20, but the high-level samurai is more powerful than the most powerful classic characters. This makes commoners and the untrained far less dangerous in the D20 version.

Hmm, I know there are more differences, but the blood must not be flowing quick enough to my brain this morning. In general, my (rambling) point is that the world ports surprisingly well, so the main decision factor would probably be system you prefer (or can get players for).

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[estevans_lackey]

You people rock!!!

MORE, MORE, MORE!!!

 

[Gaius]

Over the years, my gaming group and I have played a wide variety of games, but never were we as into a setting as we were Rokugan.

I am very familiar with what is being dubbed the "classic" L5R game. I am not so with the D20 version, but I have paged through it a time or two. However, being knowledgeable with the D20 system in general, I feel as though my opinion on this matter might have more than one leg to stand on.

My take on this is very simple. As I see it, the D20 system was crafted first for D&D and as a generic system for other settings second. For this reason, I am leary of D20 games that are not D&D. I felt that the new Star Wars was an awful departure from the d6 system; I just didn't feel as though rules written for D&D could work well for Star Wars.

The world of Rokugan is very distinct and quite unlike a "western fantasy" game. That is the beauty of the classic system; it is built solely to promote the setting. I liked the simplicity of the rules and the deadliness of combat. I loved the magic system and felt that it had a unique flavor, one not easily duplicated by D&D's default magic mechanics. I also liked the leveless character advancement.

Overall, though, I'd have to echo the sentiments of an above poster. As long as your game focuses on the setting and role-playing, you can't go wrong in Rokugan. It's such a rich world to play in and one that can really draw you into it.

So whether you're playing classic or D20, enjoy!

 

[hong]

Magic of Rokugan was in some ways broken (MHO here) and removed some of these advantages, but had some great concepts (Invoke Kami, Smith class, nemanuri).

Out of interest, which bits of MoR did you find broken?

 

[Black Omega]

I'm curious about this also, really. For my money, MoR and it's treatment of magic items is great, much better than the traditional DnD approach, IMHO.

And Harm is just fine..my group already knows I'll be nerfing it. Just as well since I'd be using it on them before they use it on anyone else.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Hmhmm

I have to go along with Gaius there. My impression was, too, that rule system and background in the "classic" L5R are tightly interwoven, with the rules supporting the setting and vice versa. My first thought when I read the announcement of OA bringing Rokugan into the d20 world was something like "Nice...but it won´t work too well"
I have to admit, I didn´t dig into OA and it´s supplements yet...maybe I´m wrong...

 

[Psion]

My impressions of the system: the one shot kill / maim is still quite possible using the Iaijutsu Focus rules, after which you enter the "clashing swords and minor wounds" combat mode, which I also like.

It's possible. But especially at high levels, you don't quite have that "only one person walks away from a duel" feel of the classic system. This is bad if you like that "death at a moment's notice" feel, but good if you like character continuity.

Magic of Rokugan was in some ways broken (MHO here) and removed some of these advantages, but had some great concepts (Invoke Kami, Smith class, nemanuri).

Do you mean Importune Kami?

I think the smith and the nemuranai are great ideas. So much so I am putting them in my normal game.