Rokugan
One of the most popular Asian fantasy RPGs in recent years was that of Rokugan in the Legend of the Five Rings RPG by AEG. The Legends of the Five Rings setting was inspired by Japanese history and myth, but much like many other fantasy settings that emulated Europe, the setting was not based is a psuedo-historical version of its inspiration, but in a totally fresh fantasy land.
Wizards of the Coast felt that the Legends of the Five Rings setting was attractive enough that it was worth using as a sample setting in their Oriental Adventures book for Dungeons & Dragons 3e. However, the L5R property was sold to AEG. Along with it, AEG acquired a license to use the Oriental Adventures trademark and refer to the material therein.
Rokugan is the AEG's central D20 book for the Legends of the Five Rings setting. It requires both the D&D 3e Players Handbook and Oriental Adventures to use, and goes into greater depth of detail about gaming in the setting than Oriental Adventures does.
A First Look
Rokugan is a 224-page hardbound book. The cover has a beige coloration, with a picture of a warrior wielding a pair of Japanese-style swords. The interior is color.
The Rokugan book has a graphical style very similar to the Dungeons & Dragons 3e Oriental Adventures book. Similar fonts are used, and like OA, it has the chapter and section names in the margin; Rokugan is slightly different in that these margin labels are blue. Most of the artwork is color. Most of the illustrations are appropriate to the section that they are in vice being merely decorative, and most have captions pointing out what general or specific character is depicted. The beginning of each chapter has a stylistic ink picture that helps lend the book a nice Japanese feel.
The text density is very good. When borrowing the style of OA, Rokugan also borrows the layout of the "cap system" books. The font size is small, and there is little wasted space. The book is priced at $29.99 US, which is about normal for a color book of this size. The text density and layout deliver a decent value.
A Deeper Look
Rokugan is organized into seven chapters and five appendices.
Chapter 1: Characters
The first chapter contains the new options for character creation as it differs from the Dungeons & Dragons 3e and Oriental Adventures baselines.
The chapter leads off with details of the different clans that the Rokugani characters may hail from. Each clan is given a good deal of exposition, including the nature of the clan, their role in Rokugan, their philosophies and relations, and their general appearance. Then, each family in each of the major clans is detailed, and some minor, lost, and ronin clans are also detailed.
Rokugan assigns mechanical traits according to family vice clan (as was done in Oriental Adventures). A character's family defines the character's favored class, a bonus class skill, and a "starting outfit". The "starting outfit" is an additional piece of equipment that the character may receive at the start of the game. In addition to these mechanical items, the character's family also determines the character's starting honor, a new trait introduced in Rokugan (see below).
In addition to the human clans, Nezumi (ratmen) and Naga (snake-men) are described. Nezumi are slightly revised from the way that they appear in Oriental Adventures, and have tribes that further modify their traits. The Naga are presented in the style of a PC race rather than as a monstrous race as in OA. Similar to Nezumi tribes and human clans, the Naga have bloodlines that further define them.
The next section in the chapter is character classes. It begins with a brief rundown of how the basic D&D character classes fit into the Legends of the Five Rings setting. Some are merely noted as not appropriate for native Rokugan characters. Others are given some mechanical and conceptual considerations. For example, it is noted that while barbarians are appropriate for the Unicorn clan, the barbarian class can be used to represent "beserkers" who are not true barbarians in some Rokugan families. Rangers are also noted as being appropriate to Rokugan, but their spellcasting ability is somewhat out of place. Rangers other than the fox clan and the naga are allowed to take fighter feats instead of access to a new level of spells.
In addition to this short list of considerations, two classes from OA are redefined (Samurai and Shugenja) and three new classes are introduced (Courtier, Inkyo, and Ninja).
The Samurai are very similar to the way that they are portrayed in OA, with just a few tweaks. As with the OA version, they receive fewer feats than a fighter, but more skill points and access to courtly skills. The skill list is slightly refined to include new skills introduced in Rokugan. Also as in OA, they receive a pair of swords (daisho) that the samurai can enchant. However, under the Rokugan version, the weapons are enchanted by sacrificing experience points vice money. This better reflects the nature of the setting, which has less emphasis on garnering treasure than the baseline Dungeons & Dragons game. The Rokugan version also does not require a lawful alignment, recognizing that there are samurai in Rokugan who are less than perfect followers of the social order.
The courtier is a new class, representing a high-born character who is at home in the courts of Rokugan, and with a greater emphasis on social skills than other members of the nobility (such as those with the Samurai character class). The courtier receives a large array of skills, as rouges do. Courtiers are weak combatants, but receive a number of abilities that are useful in the social circles in which they run. They receive some free cash at every level (a small amount by D&D standards), a hefty bonus to non-combat related charisma checks, improved benefit from skill focus when applied to non-physical skills, as well as receiving a number of other abilities as they go up levels. Some of these abilities are courtier abilities that can be selected from a list, similar in nature to rogue special abilities. This class could easily be adapted to make a PC-caliber noble class in another D20 system setting.
The Shugenja is slightly modified from the OA version. The spell advancement and casting methodology is similar: they cast divine spells but do so as a sorcerer. The spells known table is slightly different than the one in OA, but very similar in effect. The one "school spell per level" assigned in OA has been combined with the spells in the character's element, but the character still is assigned one school spell per level. The schools are slightly different than the ones listed in OA. Instead of one list for each Shugenja school, there is simply one list for each element, and some lists are shared by multiple schools.
The Ninja is a new class introduced in Rokugan. In OA, the ninja were not defined as a core class. This was due to the fact that the abilities attributed to them varied wildly and could be attributes to other core classes. So then this ninja obviously exists to represent the ninja as they exist in Rokugan. The Rokugan ninja is a competent fighter, and also receives sneak attack, special dodge and evasion abilities, and a modest amount of stealth related skills.
Those desiring a peek at the Rokugan ninja class can find it online at:
http://l5r.alderac.com/rpg/rokugan_ninja.pdf
The Inkyo, or enlightened monk, is represents a slightly different, less martial monk than the one presented in the PHB. The Inkyo does receive unarmed combat abilities similar to a monk. Their damage progression is slower than the core monk and they do not have the faster attack progression and flurry of blows ability, nor stunning fist or most other standard monk abilities. They do, however, learn how to use "void" points to enhance their rolls or AC, gain a great resistance to elemental magic, and receive a number of free "kiho" feats, which represent esoteric martial arts techniques.
Rokugan dares to try something that most third party D20 system publishers tend to bungle: introduce new skills. They do seem to get some of the most important points right: they tell you which classes get the skills as in-class skills, and they take into consideration how the skills interact with other game mechanics. The new skills include:
-Battle: This skill represent knowledge of tactics and warfare, and the ability to lead troops in battle. No full-blown large-scale warfare rules are defined here, but some basic tasks are laid out that you can perform with this skill, such as getting momentary advantages or recognizing an ambush.
-Games: Similar to craft, profession, and knowledge, this constitutes a number of separate skills, like go and sumai. In a standard D&D game, putting this much emphasis on a game might not be worth it. However, in a setting such as this where such games are considered honorable tests of skill, it seems perfectly appropriate.
-Knowledge: A number of new knowledge skills are introduced. Again, Rokugan takes the time to assign some of these skills to the existing classes.
-Mimic: This skill lets you mimic the voices of other people or creatures. It is a class skill for bards, druids, ninjas, and rogues.
-Poison: This skill lets you brew poison, and even increase the intensity of the poison. Some parts of the text refer to this skill as a craft skill, so I wonder if the original intention was to list it as a craft skill (which I would have done, and would have made it fit well with WotC's Song and Silence) but the ball got dropped during editing.
-Speak Language: A number of new languages appropriate for the Legends of the Five Rings setting are introduced.
-Tea Ceremony: While this skill is certainly appropriate for the setting, I felt it could have safely been tucked under knowledge or perform.
Of course, there are many new feats. Many of them are specific to certain clans. Some of these are ancestor feats that follow the rules for such feats as outlined in the Oriental Adventures book. Others are clan technique feats, and require that the character be a member of the clan and meet other prerequisites, but don't require the character take the feat as an ancestor feat. Finally, there are some new general feats. Examples of some feats are:
-Breaking Blow: If you spend a full round action on a single unarmed attack, you receive an extra 1d6 points of damage per point of strength bonus, doubled if the damage is against an inanimate object.
-Dancing with the Fortunes: So long as you respect a religious figure called a fortune, you can re-roll one dice roll per day. This is a unicorn clan technique.
-Let Him Go By: By spending a void point (see below) while executing a total defense, you may immediately attack anyone who misses you in combat. This is a dragon clan technique.
-Sprit Strike: By spending a void point, you gain an enhancement bonus to your unarmed strike for 1 minute per character level. This is a kiho feat.
-Tread on the Blade: If you beat an opponent's initiative by 10, you may spend a void point to gain a free extra attack. This is a crane clan technique.
-Way of the Crab: This crab technique lets the character ignore movement restrictions, and improves the maximum dexterity modifier and armor penalty of heavy armor.
-Void Use: This feat gives the character access to void points and is a prerequisite for a number of other void-related feats. The character can spend void points to receive bonuses to nearly and roll or their AC. A character taking this feat starts with two void points. Further void points may be obtained by the feat depths of the void.
This is just a small sampling of the available feats. Overall, I found the feats very interesting and balanced. They fit Rokugan well and could be imported into other campaigns as well, especially other Asian-style campaigns.
The chapter includes a short equipment list, including weapons, armor, poisons, and special items like metsubishi (an eye irritant). Some of the items appeared elsewhere, but their listing here indicates their availability in Rokugan, and costs are given in koku, the default unit of exchange in Rokugan. A short section covers the availability of certain items in the Player's Handbook.
A brief section is dedicated to religion in this chapter. Basically, in Rokugan there are three models of worship. The first is the worship of celestial beings called the Fortunes. A sub-category of this sort of worship is ancestor worship, which postulates that spirits of one's ancestors are nearby at all time. Then there is Shinseism, which is a more philosophical standpoint. Students of Shinsei seek enlightenment through unification of the body, mind, and soul.
The character chapter introduces a section that some feel was missing from Oriental Adventures: a numerical system for tracking a character's honor. Characters have an honor rank and honor points. Every honor rank is corresponds to 10 honor points. A character's honor can ebb and flow according to acts of great honor or dishonor witnessed by others. In many cases, the honor points gained or lost is dependant on the characters current honor rank. Honor ranks typically range from zero to 5.
Alongside the new honor rules, the nine Dungeons and Dragons alignments are discussed as they pertain to the Legends of the Five Rings setting. The book is quick to point out that alignment is not as much an issue in Rokugan as it is other settings. However, it discusses how each alignments fits with the concepts of honor in Rokugan, provides examples of characters of each alignment from the setting, and discusses how that character fits the alignment.
Finally, the characters chapter presents 17 new prestige classes. Some are general character types appropriate to the culture of the setting. Others represent specific schools or members of elite organizations. Some resemble the more typical D&D style combat and magic oriented classes, like the dragon swordmaster, lion's pride, or elemental guardsman. Others are a bit more subtle, and may be appropriate to less combative characters, such as the artisan, butei (Scorpion master of disguise), and mastermind. The prestige classes are, for the most part, well conceived and well designed.
Chapter 2: Magic of Rokugan
The magic chapter begins with a discussion of the magical beings that shape magic in Rokugan. This includes the somewhat powerful spirits known as Kami, and more powerful spirits, the Fortunes, the Dragons, and the Sun and the Moon.
Rules are introduced for ritual magic. Ritual magic is basically two or more Shugenja combining their powers to create a greater effect. The involved Shugenja must have the appropriate feat.
Some practitioners of magic in Rokugan have access to esoteric secret methods of magic. The section entitled secret lore introduces the means that a character can access these secret methods. Most of these involve a new set of feats called secret lore feats. Example are the kage yakiin (shadow brand) feat, which allows the character to move at full speed while hiding in shadows, and the tattoo magic of the dragon clan: dragon monks or inkyo may take tattoos described for the tattooed monk class in the Oriental Adventures book as feats.
The spells and magic section introduces new spells as well as a few alterations. One of the most telling alterations from the Dungeons and Dragons game is that in Rokugan, spells that return one from death are considered against the natural order. As such, spells like raise dead and resurrection are not available in the setting.
The spell lists provided for the classes is somewhat similar to those presented in the Oriental Adventures book. Many spells from the Players Handbook are used, but different titles are assigned to them is the spell list. For example, cure light wounds is "path to inner peace" and dimension door is "spirit of air." These alternate names serve to add a little flavor to the spells.
The bulk of the chapters is new spells. This includes Shugenja spells, Maho (blood magic) spells, and a new type of spells: void spells. Void spells may only be taken by characters of the Void Disciple prestige class (introduced in Oriental Adventures) or a member of the phoenix clan with the Ishiken-do secret lore feat. Some of the spells are listed with traditional D&D character classes, allowing you to easily port these spells to other games.
Some examples of new spells:
-Burn the soul (Shugenja 3, Cleric 3) - characters with a low honor score and/or not one of the three "honorable" alignments per OA (LG, LN, NG) suffer damage from the judgement of a kami.
-False Tongue (Bard 3, Shugenja 3) - masks your words with illusionary words. You can use this to make one person hear you say a different thing than what everyone else hears you say.
-Immortal Steel (Shugenja 4) - one weapon instantly becomes a masterwork weapon.
-Kharma (Shugenja 6) - the only acceptable replacement for life restoring magic in Rokugan. Similar to reincarnate, except that it does not manufacture a new body, but awakens the character's spirit in a different body.
-The Penetrating Drop (Shugenja 7) - an object becomes infested with water sprits. If the object does not save, it take 3d10 points of damage per round, plus 3d10 points of damage per round of duration.
-Tsunami (Druid 9, Shugenja 9) - ah, a perennial favorite spell of mine in the 1st edition AD&D Oriental Adventures book! Tsunami summons a huge wave from a body of water that devastates anything in its path.
-Essence of the Void (Void 5) - The target must make a will save every round to do anything.
-Fu Leng's Champion (Maho 8) -If the target fails their saving throw, they are permanently transformed into any undead creature in the campaign of the caster's choice. This one struck me as a little powerful, and will need some consideration if the DM is using a setting broader than Rokugan. What if the DM has nightshades in his world?
-Rise Again (Maho 4) - If the caster is slain within 24 hours of casting this spell, he heals all wounds and returns to life within 48 hours.
One error that I caught was that one of the Maho spells seems to be missing, a 9th level spell referred to as "rise, taint".
Chapter 3: Life in Rokugan
The third chapter covers various aspects important to running a game in Rokugan. The chapter begins with guidelines for a GM looking to run such a game. This includes a discussion of how a GM can handle problems that can arise if the players are not familiar with the setting, how to achieve elements central to a Legends of the Five Rings game such as intrigue, honor, duty, and ettiquette, and pointing out fundamental ways that a campaign in Rokugan should differ from a typical Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
Next, the chapter dives into details of the setting that will be important to the GM and players. This includes things such as the what the different social castes are in Rokugan and what their roles and attitudes are, timekeeping and seasons in Rokugan, details on flora and fauna, customs and laws in Rokugan, possible reasons for adventures, how magic is perceived, and so forth.
The Shadowlands taint and rules for handling are discussed. The rules for taint were introduced in Oriental Adventures. The rules here cover some of the same ground, but it is not too clear from the description whether they are supposed to supplement the rules in the OA or replace them.
Taint points can be initially acquired by spending time in the Shadowlands or by being the target of a maho spell. Once you have taint points, you acquire a taint modifier. You can voluntarily use this modifier as a bonus to physical rolls, but it applies as a penalty to charisma checks. If the character uses the taint modifier as a bonus, they accumulate more taint points. As characters accumulate taint, they acquire physical and mental symptoms of the taint. If they are a spellcaster, they also gain the ability to cast maho spells.
Chapter 4: Geography
Chapter four covers the details of the land of Rokugan. The maps of Rokugan are on the inside covers of the book, and is keyed to locations described in the geography chapter.
The geography chapter is broken up by the clans that controls them - if any. Each region is listed with details on its capital, population, favored religion, imports and exports. Major features such as natural landmarks, fortifications, and significant settlements are listed for each. In addition, each region details one or more significant NPCs, complete with statistics and background information. Some of the character writeups are very detailed, and done in a style similar to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book.
Chapter 5: Deities and Cosmology
Chapter 5 describes the esoteric world of spirits in the Legend of the Five Rings setting. The cosmology of L5R includes spirit realms similar in scope to the planes of Dungeons & Dragons. Each realm is briefly describes, and each has certain attributes. For example, Chikusudo is the "realm of animals", and every animal that exists in the realm of mortals also exists here. The realms are difficult to traverse without powerful magic, but some connections exist and are listed
Next are described the various powerful spirit beings that are central to religion in Rokugan. The so called Seven Fortunes are among the most powerful of a set of being called the "thousand fortunes." The Seven Fortunes are revered throughout Rokugan.
The most powerful beings are Lord Sun and Lady Moon. These are a sort of primordial deity who gave birth to the kami, who would give birth to the clans of Rokugan. The clans pay respect and derive power from the kami who founded the clan. Fu Leng is the one kami who did not found a clan, but is the source of the corrupt power behind the taint and the shadowlands.
Finally, the chapter discusses some of the principles behind sin and penance in the setting, and talks briefly about the seven dragons. The dragons are powerful beings with the potential to drastically affect Rokugan. Dragons dwell in the heavens, but occasionally intervene on behalf of mortals.
Chapter 6: History of Rokugan
Chapter six is eighteen pages long and details the history of the clans of Rokugan. The history covers up to the calendar year of 1158. The chapter is divided up into sections by century, plus a short section on the events of prehistory. Major events are related by year for each century. The twelfth and current century has the most covered events.
A recounting of this history is beyond the scope of this review.
Chapter 7: Organizations
Chapter seven describes a number of organizations that act within Rokugan. The organization, goals, modus operandi, and background of each group is described, and statistics for a typical NPC member of the organization is provided.
The organizations described are:
-The Imperial Magistrates and Emerald Legions: Servants of the emperor, the imperial magistrates are samurai selected to enforce the laws of the empire, and the emerald legions are the elite troops in the service of the emperor.
-The Bloodspeakers: A ghastly cult that once fought to restore a wicked sorcerer, the bloodspeakers exist in secret and practice dark maho magic, spread the taint through the land of Rokugan.
-Ronin brotherhoods: Though Ronin are masterless warriors, many have banded together in one of several brotherhoods. Though some of these brotherhoods are merely bandits, others are honorable figures.
-The Kolat: The Kolat are a secret organization dating back to the days the empire was created. The Kolat believe that the society that the kami created - the empire and its caste structure - should be aboloshed. They suffered some recent setbacks and have been operating as mercenaries instead of conspirators of late, but they may soon return to their original goals.
-The Brotherhood of Shinsei: The brotherhood of Shinsei follow the philosphy set forth by a philosopher named Shinsei. The words of Shinsei provide guidance and comfort throughout the empire.
-The Ninja: The ninja are a shadowy organization of spies and assassins, believed by many to not exist. But exist they do.
Appendices
There are five appendices in Rokugan, plus an index, the obligatory open game license and OGC declaration, and a character sheet original.
The first appendix introduces a number of new magic items for the Rokugan setting. Some of the items have fairly straightforward enchantments (e.g, the Akodo dagger is a +2 keen lawful tanto) but some also grant small bonuses due to the prestige associated with the item. The writeups are a little troublesome, however. The enchantments are not concisely stated, and no item creation details are presented.
The second appendix details three new monsters. Kansen are spirits of the shadowlands that are drawn to potential students of maho magic. Free ogres are intelligent ogres that after being freed from the shadowlands taint recovered memories of an empire of ogres. Mujina are small mischevious fey that are friendly to the nezumI (ratmen).
The third appendix contains rules for converting characters between the D20 system version of the setting and the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. The conversion notes attempt to cover conversions in both directions.
The fourth appendix is a list of recommended reading and viewing. This includes L5R novel and game products as well as movies and books inspired by feudal era Japan and other parts of ancient Asia.
The fifth appendix is a glossary detailing terms commonly used in the Legend of the Five Rings setting.
Conclusion
I have to admit that I am by no means a fan of the old Legend of the Five Rings game. Concerns about the system and the heavy handed nature of the metaplots associated with the game kept me away from it despite an interest is Asian-style fantasy.
However, I found the Rokugan book simply excellent. The presentation is very good, with text density and layout on par with Wizards of the Coast, which is to say better than a majority of third party D20 system publishers. More importantly, the mechanics were well implemented and further, the ideas so presented seem like they would make excellent character making material. The feats are interesting, and the prestige classes are appropriately applied and well done.
Getting into the D20 version of L5R could be costly if you do not already have the Dungeons & Dragons 3e Players Handbook and Oriental Adventures book, but from what I understand, older version of the setting required quite an outlay to have a complete set of character making material. And from what I understand, Rokugan actually gathers a considerable chunk of L5R material in one place.
So, if you have any inkling for the L5R setting, any liking for the D20 system, and either a tolerance for metaplots or the wherewithal to shut out the metaplots and make your own stories, I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a D20 fan looking for more "crunchy bits" and ideas for your own Asian style campaign, you will probably get some good value out of this book, but not quite the same value as you got out of OA, as much of Rokugan is campaign specific exposition.
-Alan D. Kohler
