Secrets of the Scorpion

[Messageboard Golem]

The clan of secrets and deception, the Scorpion Clan has allies in every court in Rokugan. Rare is the daimyo who does not have a friend among the Scorpion. The Scorpion recognize the need for subtlety like none other; those who think they know the full truth had best think again. The ruthless Bayushi, the devious Soshi, the sinister Shosuro and the despised Yogo all strive for the same goal: gaining the trust of their enemies. (96 pages, softbound)

* Updates the Scorpion Clan to the Gold Edition timeline.
* An excellent resource for new players who are interested in the Scorpion Clan as well as for fans who want more information regarding the inner workings of the clan.
* Compatible with both the traditional Alderac game system and the popular d20 system.
* New spells, schools, advantages, and other mechanical options for Scorpion characters.
* Strong continuity with the L5R CCG.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Joe G Kushner, Staff Reviewer

Sizing Up the Target
Weighing in at 96 pages for $24.95, Secrets of the Scorpion is the latest in the dual stat books that covers the d20 system and the L5R 2nd edition system. Secrets of the Scorpion is published by AEG.

First Blood
The book is broken up into seven sections, four on the different families and their vassals, one for the introduction, one for the Shadowed Tower, and a last one for the darker secrets of the scorpion.

Critical Hits
In short, if you're looking for information on the Scorpion, it's here. Want to know about the rituals that go on in the daily life? Check out the introduction that covers the customs ranging from Birth to Funerals. Want the complete Scorpion Feat list with new feats like Bayushi's Invincible Edge? It's there along with others like Ruthless Sting and Shosuro's Technique. The timeline is a nice reference work as it covers important events from the ancient past to recent card game history. Want to know the exact years that the Scorpion were in the Burning Sands? Want to know when the Lying Darkness first got its talons into the Scorpion? All covered.

The familles, Bayushi, Shosuro, Soshi, Yogo, are all covered with the same amount of detail. You get information on the provinces, minor holdings, important NPC's, Vassals, new mechanics and occasionally something else. For example, we've got the Bitter Lies Swordsman and the Bayushi Guardian Spirit Template. Game Mechanics are kept to a minimal but usually include Ancestory Feats in each section.

The Shadowed Tower is detailed with background and adventure seeds, fully mapped out and stocked with NPCs to add to the game either for the Scorpion or depending on how the GM is using them, having the Scorpion interfere with the work that goes on there.

For me, one of the coolest things was the introduction of the Ashalan as a player race. These individuals hail from the Burning Sands and while they're not in the public eye like they once were, they're still around but working in secret. The racial traits are provided for both d20 and L5R 2nd Edition.

Critical Misses
The book doesn't include a lot of new game mechanics for those only looking for the crunch. For me, while the Shadowed Tower was cool, I'd have enjoyed more details, perhaps even a map on the Burning Sands locations. Lastly, while there are maps for the Shadowed Tower and the Scorpion lands province, there needs to be more maps of other locations.

Coup de Grace
Secrets of the Scorpion is another strong entry to the L5R series. It's tightly focused and provides a lot of hooks for the GM and players of the Scorpion Clan. The price is a little high due to the heavy stock used in the book but otherwise, it's a good deal.

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.

 

[Psion]

Secrets of the Scorpion

Secrets of the Scorpion is a book in the series of dual-statted d20 Rokugan/L5R books detailing clans in the L5R setting. Secrets of the Scorpion covers the mysterious Scorpion clan. As my interest is primarily in d20 (and my feeling that it is generally superior to the broken L5R classic system), this review will focus primarily on the book as a d20 product.

Secrets of the Scorpion is written by Rich Wulf, Shawn Carman, Seth Mason, Travis Heerman, Aaron Medwin, Jed Carlton, and Eric Steiger.

A First Look
(Spoiler Warning: Some secrets contained in the book are alluded to in this review.)

Secrets of the Scorpion is a 96-page perfect-bound softcover book priced as $24.95. This is a bit expensive for a d20 system book of this page count.

The front cover of the book depicts a 3/4 view image of the bust and head of a female with unusual red helm and armor. The cover actually wraps around, revealing the rest of the woman's face and shoulder. The art is by Matthew S. Armstrong.

The interior art is black and white, by Chris Dornaus. Most of the art is the familiar pencil style used throughout the d20 Rokugan line. The art is of very good quality.

The layout is clean and easily read, and the writing is good. The interior uses a conservative sized body text font and the line and paragraph spacing is close, delivering a high word count per page, making it a better value than the price per page ratio might indicate. That said, the rules material must be shared with L5R classic versions, removing some of this efficiency.

A Deeper Look

Secrets of the Scorpion adheres to the format typical of the series: a single introductory chapter with a few basic details about the clan, three chapters dedicated to the major families of the clan, a location chapter, and a secrets chapter defining some nominally secret information about the clan for use by the GM. Also typical for the series, there are many fiction passages in the book.

The introductory chapter contains details on Scorpion customs as they differ from other clans, the history of the Scorpion clan, and a few rules details such as feats and courtier class abilities. As longtime fans of the setting know, the Scorpion are a clan with somewhat shady dealings and a reputation for betrayal. One betrayal that they were accused of was severe enough that all adults of the clan were at one time exiled, but through Scorpion shrewdness, they regain their place among the great clans.

The new feats fit the underhanded feel of the Scorpion clan, with feats that do things like enhance sneak attacks and make poison more deadly.


The four major families described in the book are the Bayushi, the Shosuro, the Soshi, and the Yogo. Each one of these chapter has a similar format, describing locations and holdings of the clan (including adventure hooks at those locations), major NPCs of the clan, and new character options for the clan (such as new prestige classes.) These chapters also includes new ancestor feats appropriate to members of the family, such a No Fool, an ancestor feat for descendants of Bayushi Rikoji (who refused to touch the bloodsword ambition because he didn't trust it.)

Perhaps the family with the most interesting roleplaying potential is the Yogo. The Yogo family share a powerful curse. Each member of the Yogo family will betray someone or something important to them in their lives. The scope of this betrayal may actually be fairly minor, but a Yogo always knows when their personal curse had been fulfilled. This has some interesting implications, such as the way that the family shields members from important duties until their curses are fulfilled.

The location chapter covers the Shadowed Tower Compound. The Shadowed Tower itself is an organization poised to vie for leadership of the Scorpion clan and that wish to control the empire from the shadows. The "compound" is a place used for their purposes, and deals in illicit pleasures. Through the compound, the Shadowed Tower can learn the vices of powerful patrons and kidnap weak ones for their own dark purposes.

The behind the veil chapter discusses the Shosuru spy network, the Ashalan (a desert race encountered by the Scorpion during their exile), the Shadow Tower, and the creature known as the nightmare of the scorpion.

Conclusion

As with most books in this series, I find it interesting and functional, but not at all compulsory to run a d20 Rokugan game. That said, I did find many interesting concepts in these pages useful for gaming, particularly the idea of the Yogo family curse.

Overall Grade: B-

-Alan D. Kohler