The End of Rokugan d20

[Davelozzi]

I would like to see Kara-Tur fleshed out so that I can see what all this passionate defense is about, too. The fact that it's connected to Forgotten Realms makes me somewhat less inclined to care (as I've never played or ran a FR campagin).

In my opinion, Kara-Tur didn't have a very strong Forgotten Realms flavor, in that sense that it didn't seem as high fantasy/magic. Basically the setting just provided some countries strongly modeled on different periods of Chinese and Japanese history and added just enough fantastic elements that to make it D&D.

 

[ivocaliban]

I cannot tell you whether it is rehashed, but the book is much like the other secrets books: It gives you lands, npc's and mechanics of several "families" of the shadowlands.
Within it, you find The Daigotsu, the Chuda, the Tsuno, the Gojo, the Bloodspeakers and the Beasts.

Thanks for the head's up, KaeYoss!

In my opinion, Kara-Tur didn't have a very strong Forgotten Realms flavor, in that sense that it didn't seem as high fantasy/magic. Basically the setting just provided some countries strongly modeled on different periods of Chinese and Japanese history and added just enough fantastic elements that to make it D&D.

Kara-Tur sounds quite nice, but I can understand why WotC stayed clear of it. D&D under WotC doesn't seem to have a place for historical settings, even stylized historical settings. I'm guessing that unless they decide to make the connections to FR more pronounced that we're as likely to see Kara-Tur on the shelves as a hardcover Greyhawk.

 

[Truth Seeker]

In my opinion, Kara-Tur didn't have a very strong Forgotten Realms flavor, in that sense that it didn't seem as high fantasy/magic. Basically the setting just provided some countries strongly modeled on different periods of Chinese and Japanese history and added just enough fantastic elements that to make it D&D.

RR might kill me for this...but to support this statement, I realized now, that Kara-Tur was just a put down and stand alone material, there was no further interest to prolong it for the foreseeable future. As there now at this moment.

Davelozz, your statement was echoed in the early days, when I was at the WOTC forum site, before coming here, although I would say, that many still would like to see a Kara-Tur return, my view*watching my back*, it was not Asian-flavored enough for me...it was too westernize in some points.

Rokugan does fit the bill, but in the last installments, there is undergrowth trend, that gaijin influence is slowly creeping its way back into Rokugan, The Way of the Thief Book D20, has the lowdown on the trade business. But the Emperor is aware of such things also...heh, and also the Heaven War, where many fortunes will killed by the Dark Kami, there are gaijin gods of Death, reveried by the Unicorn(by some houses), in helping with the Heaven war, which has been recognized by the Emperor, as minor fortunes...last seen.

This interesting twist does present a challenge within Rokugan mindset, for those who are fully aware, do the people advance culturally, excepting that there are other races beyond their borders*which it seems that a handful are doing*, or ignore everything and stay within their homeland for the time being *those who believe that gaijin influence is bad no matter what*

I will be sad, that now, after the Hidden Emperor, getting my daily fix on the happenings within Rokugan will not be seen in further books of the d20 route. The Fiction page at AEG, is a mind boggling minefield to walk through. But in the end, as Buttercup*HI Buttercup* said, you will have enough to deal with all the source books at hand.

The Destiny of the Empire...is in your hands.

 

[Treebore]

Yes, I'm dredging up this puppy again. You know you like dredged-up puppies!

Anyway...does anyone out there have the dual-stat Secrets of the Shadowlands book? I've got both of the Shadowlands books from L5R as well as Creatures of Rokugan. Is Secrets of the Shadowlands more of a tool for letting players be Shadowlanders? Does it rehash much of the material from earlier L5R volumes? Or does it stand on it's own and present mostly new material?

Thanks in advance!

I think, since you have all the old material, you would be happier just doing your own stuff. If you find it at a good price, buy it. Otherwise I think you will feel it is too much money for too little content.

I am also of the same opinion to keep Rokugan a world unto itself. The lands to the north are Mongol types, the islands to the east (off the maps) are a "true" Chinese feel. No European Gaijin types to be found anywhere.

 

[ivocaliban]

I think, since you have all the old material, you would be happier just doing your own stuff. If you find it at a good price, buy it. Otherwise I think you will feel it is too much money for too little content.

Thanks for your comments. What you've said is pretty much an echo of my own thoughts, but I wanted to get the opinions of folks who had the book. I've never even seen the book and I'm pretty far away from any sort of RPG store, so I either order material sight unseen or I can come here and get advice. I think I'll make do with what I have for the time being and if I find I'm in need of more I'll seek out Secrets of the Shadowlands.

 

[beepeearr]

I am also of the same opinion to keep Rokugan a world unto itself. The lands to the north are Mongol types, the islands to the east (off the maps) are a "true" Chinese feel. No European Gaijin types to be found anywhere.

Thats not exactly right.

Alhundro Cornejo
Gaijin Explosives Master whose father was Esteban Cornejo, can be found stated out (as well as most of the clan war heroes in the AEG time of the void book (one of my favorite AEG books). The impression given is that they are both the same type of Gaijin the empire fought before, which led to the banning of Gaijin powder (gun powder).

Also Magda (yellow hair, blue eyes), from the Ryoko Owari boxed set

Both are European Gaijin types, as well as alot of gaijin equipment from Way of the Unicorn.

That being said, I'm not overly thrilled about AEG dumping d20 rokugan, even without the OA brand, they could still publish under the d20 license. Personally, I always found the d10 sytem too limiting, and got stale after awhile.

 

[Ranger REG]

That being said, I'm not overly thrilled about AEG dumping d20 rokugan, even without the OA brand, they could still publish under the d20 license. Personally, I always found the d10 sytem too limiting, and got stale after awhile.

They could, but other than Spycraft and SG-1, they are opting out of the d20 publishing and going back to its root in-house system, Roll-n-Keep.

So while I really cannot shed a tear about the end of the line, I will sing a song for you...

*off-key with a celebratory jig*
The sun is gonna come out tomorrow...
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow...
The sun will shine...

 

[ivocaliban]

I am also of the same opinion to keep Rokugan a world unto itself. The lands to the north are Mongol types, the islands to the east (off the maps) are a "true" Chinese feel. No European Gaijin types to be found anywhere.

Thats not exactly right.

Alhundro Cornejo
Gaijin Explosives Master whose father was Esteban Cornejo, can be found stated out (as well as most of the clan war heroes in the AEG time of the void book (one of my favorite AEG books). The impression given is that they are both the same type of Gaijin the empire fought before, which led to the banning of Gaijin powder (gun powder).

Also Magda (yellow hair, blue eyes), from the Ryoko Owari boxed set

Both are European Gaijin types, as well as alot of gaijin equipment from Way of the Unicorn.

That being said, I'm not overly thrilled about AEG dumping d20 rokugan, even without the OA brand, they could still publish under the d20 license. Personally, I always found the d10 sytem too limiting, and got stale after awhile.

I always considered these hints to be a testing of the waters, so to speak, for AEG to introduce the rest of the world outside of Rokugan. Many of the lands and the people that share the same world as Rokugan have been named, described, hinted at and so on, but I think Treebore was referring to the fact that these hints and the knowledge that there was a specific world out beyond Rokugan's borders, made it somewhat more difficult to simply drop Rokugan into another setting (such as Oerth, or Faerun).

Furthermore, because of the isolationist nature of Rokugan at large, it's more likely than not that other cultures would be met with hostility and suspicion. While it is always possible to do Shogun or The Last Samurai in an East meets West campaign, it is a little far-fetched for most DMs and players. It seems more likely that you'd have the sort of thing that happened in our own world...that other civilizations begin to trade with Rokugan and slowly gain influence there, which eventually leads to Once Upon A Time In China.

I've often toyed with the idea of using the world of Theah from Swashbuckling Adventures (AEG) as the world of Rokugan, by simply replacing the mysterious Cathay with Rokugan. The problem with this doesn't lie in the fact that many of the creatures and peoples beyond Rokugan already have names (as Tolkien taught us, things have many names in many cultures), but that Theah is set in the 17th century, while Rokugan harks back to a somewhat older time. Still, this concept could provide an interesting and workable East meets West environment with a little work and imagination on the part of the DM.

I can't say I'm happy to see Rokugan leave d20 (though I'm certain others can), but with a 3rd edition of L5R on the way, I have no complaints. I like the Roll-and-Keep system, especially for L5R and they appear to be working on some promising improvements for the new edition. I think there's more than enough dual-stat material out there to run d20 campaigns for a long time to come. And, having dual-stat books should make it somewhat easier to convert L5R material into a d20 format. After all, there's at least two dozen books out there that show you how it's done.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

They're going to stop doing dual supplements - no more d20 Material for Rokugan...

Was there a reason stated as to why they were stopping or what about be nexy for WotC or AEG?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Was there a reason stated as to why they were stopping or what about be nexy for WotC or AEG?

They're making a 3rd edition of their own L5R system. So they stop the dual products and go L5R 3e all the way.