aramis erak
Legend
The map is quite useful; one side is the Rokugan map, the other is the Palace of the Emerald Magistrate. Given that the L5R 5e corebook includes an option for gridded combat, the tokens are actually rather useful. I've used the starter set adventure with players who had played the beta and others who had not; it's a well set up whodunnit and makes used of the included palace map. It's a good introduction to the mechanics, both for new to the system and new to gaming.The beginner box for the latest edition of Legend of the Five Rings retails for $40. It does come up a set of dice which retail for about $15 (I think), a starter adventure, some pre-made characters & sheets you'll probably never use again, and some cardboard gaming tokens of dubious value. The main rulebook retails for $60 but odds are you're going to want the proprietary dice for the game so we'll call the total $75. The beginner box is of very limited value in my opinion and I don't think it's worth the cost when you factor in having to buy the main book as well. That said, I did purchase the beginner set, main book, and an extra set of L5R dice because I'm an L5R fanatic. But I didn't think the beginner set was a great value for what I spent. But I knew what I was walking into so I don't feel cheated or anything.
The follow-on adventure is a download, and needs nothing new. It even gives some feel of the experience system.