By Joe G Kushner, Staff Editor and Reviewer, d20 Magazine Rack
Secrets of the Lion
Edited by D. J. Trindle
Published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)
96 b&w pages, $24.95
Sizing up the Target
Secrets of the Lion is the first ‘splatbook’ that details the Major Clans for the L5R setting using dual mechanics for the 2nd edition Legend of the Five Rings system and the d20 system. Being the first in a new series, it breaks from the previous covers of books like Way of the Ninja and Way of the Samurai by going with a black cover with a member of the clan on the front stretching to the back.
First Blood
If you’re familiar with this style of book, you know what to expect. Some fiction between each chapter, “The Lion’s Den”, some background, NPCs, magic items, feats and other goodies that all relate to the Lion Clan. It uses the standard two-column layout with blue ink for the L5R 2nd edition rules and black ink for d20 rules. It uses one page for the OGL and the same page for the Open Game Content. It uses another page for the table of contents and another page for the credits. In short, it’s almost exactly like other “Secrets” book. If you like those books, you’ll like this one. If you don’t, then this one isn’t going to change your mind.
But what if you’ve never looked at one of these books before?
Critical Hits
The book starts off with some of the minute details of the Lion clan under the board section of Customs of the Lion Clan. How are births celebrated? Well, it’s a big event with relatives and representatives of the local daimyo on hand in addition to a shugenja to check for omens and portents. What events take place at the Gempukku? How is Courtship and Marriage handled? How do the Lion go to war and what happens when soldiers retire or die? All covered in a few brief paragraphs.
The history of the Lion section takes up more than four pages making it the longest in the history sections for the Secret books. It also focuses more on the things that happened after the Second Day of Thunder, referring the reader to the Way of the Lion for older history and material. This isn’t to say that nothing old isn’t covered like the Acquisition of the Fox Lands, but a lot of it hits afterwards like the Test of the Jade Champion (1131), Collapse of Beiden Pass (1150), Death of Toturi I (1158) and Destruction of the Dragonfly Clan (1158) among others.
As someone who doesn’t play the card games and doesn’t keep up with the fiction (still on Scroll Two!), these sections provide updates that while specific to the Lion, are helpful to an out of touch 1st edition player coming back for seconds.
Of great reference use is the Complete Lion Technique Feat List. It has the Feat name, Prerequisite and Location. Unlike the latter two books, there are no new feats in this section. There are however, new disadvantages for 2nd edition L5R with Old and Elderly, allowing players to use their characters from the Clan War timeline to the Four Winds timeline. Information on Banners and Standards, a favorite of mine, rarely used in most fantasy games, gets a quick look over with what types of standards there are. Take the Gohei, a wand or staff with silk and papier-mache or the Ko’uma Jirushi, a lesser standard that provides a bonus to Battle checks that involve commanding troops.
The real meat of the book comes from the different families and the of vassal families that serve. The first four chapters cover the Akodo, Ikoma, Kitsu, and Matsu families. Each family starts off with major holdings, minor holdings, extra-territorial holdings, important NPC’s and mechanics. The mechanics include Ancestors and in the Akodo’s case, the Lions Wardens, a 5 level prestige class.
Important people are listed with abbreviated stats (name, profession, class and level), while after the holdings, adventure hooks are listed. Important NPCs of each family are fully listed and often illustrated, with detailed background and full game stats for both L5R 2nd edition and d20. The Vassals are listed by name with background, game stats like favored class, starting honor, class skills and starting family. For example, the Katai family is a vassal of the Akodo family with a favored class of Samurai, 2 starting honor, Wilderness Lore as a class skill, and some equipment, while the Seizuka family, also vassals, have Intuit Direction as a class skill, with other statistics almost the same.
One of the benefits of this abbreviated format is that the adventure seeds are easy to use and customize. These adventure hooks are almost like the old Hook, Line & Sinker from Kingdoms of Kalamar and Palladium games where you get a Challenge, Focus and Strike. Take a situation where the characters act as guards for a package that perhaps isn’t something a samurai should be carrying. Well, at least not an honorable samurai anyway. What does the party do in this case? Make enemies of those who gave them the task or look the other way?
In addition to getting all sorts of new feats, and crunchy abilities, you get a secret, hidden place to use them. Just like the Phoenix book has Gisei Toshi, the oldest city of Rogukan, and the Mantis have Still Water Cove, the Lion have the Kitsu Tombs. These ancient lands are protected by the Lion and are considered sacred and well hidden, providing the Lion with the ability to actually speak with the ancestor spirits. A few adventure seeds are added so that the GM can actually use the Tombs in the game. Will the players discover taint in the Tombs? Will they help fight off a Tsuno attack? Or are they stealthy invaders looking to loot the Tombs? It’s a short section that’s detailed slightly but could use it’s own module or resources behind it.
The last section, Behind the Veil, ties the hidden secrets of the Lion together. For example, the Lion used to encourage small battles among their own troops and provinces to keep their units sharp. This resulted in a powerful Oni being summoned by a jealous Lion Lord. Many died before the family that summoned it died out due to a plague. At least those who don’t know the truth think that it was a plague rather than a vengeful army of Lion soldiers taking a horrible vengeance.
On a more positive side, due to the Kitsu’s supernatural origins, they can sacrifice experience points if they meet certain prerequisites to gain new abilities. Sense the Rift allows the user to detect the gateways into the Spirit Realms while Spirit Walker allows you to move through the Spirit Realms at will. Touch of Crystal and The Beast Within allow the Lion characters to be truly unique among the Clans.
Critical Misses
It’s hard to note obvious problems with this book because it has a specific focus and does its job there well. Some older players may be shocked at the vast changes in the setting due to the new timeline and some may want more mapped details about the Tombs.
The book, while more pricey than others of its size, is on heavy stock paper. The problem comes when comparing it to hardcover books of the same price with more pages. There aren’t as many player focused aids as in the Phoenix or Mantis books with a minimal amount of prestige classes, although ancestors and magic items are covered.
I wish the book had more maps. The major and minor holdings are described, but maps bridge the worded description and the visual world. Of course, using the interior covers would be a nice touch as well. Why let a table of contents or the OGL take up a page eh?
Coup de Grace
Like other books in the series, the Secrets of the Lion looks at crucial elements of the Lion while trying to gloss over information that’s already been in the market. If you’re looking for background and details for your Lion character or a GM looking for more mystic information to add to your campaign, Secrets of the Lion is meant for you.
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 www.d20zines.com.
