The End of Rokugan d20

[wingsandsword]

My understanding is that they originally went with d20 in order to bring more people in. Yet there wasn't a significant amount of people who got into L5R through d20 (I was one of them.). Seems they already had their fan base, who were just fine with the d10 system.

I was also one of those people who came into L5R through d20.

I personally didn't like the d10 system they used beforehand, our group tried to play through that system once, and it was a disaster. We wrote up our characters, came up with backgrounds, roleplayed a lot at the beginning of the session, then the very first fight broke out. 8 PC's, mostly samurai, against a handful of bandits. Two PC's were dead by the end of the first round, and half were dead by the end of the combat, and we pretty much gave up on the system after that, their d10 system was insanely brutal.

For a setting where, in the card game, one samurai can hold off an entire army, duel a dragon and win, or otherwise engage in legendary high heroics, d20 seemed like a good fit for the system.

 

[Blue Prism]

WoTC created the OA while they still had the license for L5R, but sold it back to AEG before OA was actually printed. WoTC and AEG worked out an agreement and OA was published. Now WoTC has decided to stop publishing OA and ended whatever agreement it was with AEG. (At least that's what I read on the other L5R forum.) The new 3E D10 book looks really nice and seems to be an attempt to consolidate the good stuff from their most recent Secret books. (We won't have to lug around 12-18 books anymore.)

I'm kind of hoping that by next year AEG will decide to do a new D20 Rokugan book, but this time with their team in charge from the get go. I believe it would be a far better product.

 

[Acid_crash]

I really liked the d10 Roll and Keep system, I think it fit the world of L5R much better than the d20 version did...and for that I say good riddance to d20 Rokugan. IMO of course.

 

[Treebore]

I do agree the d10 system did convey the classes abilities and just the overall flavor much better than D20, and I played both version a lot. I played L5R enough to get two characters to rank 3 and one to rank 4. I played D20 enough to go Epic level and then some. I much preferred the "atmosphere" of the D10 system. Even though my D20 Samurai is probably the deadliest D&D character I have ever played in any edition.

 

[Psion]

Are the "Way of XXX" books very crunch heavy?

The Way books are crunchier than the Secrets book. The secrets books have a feat here and a prestige class there, but overall, they are all replete with cultural details.

 

[Buttercup]

Unfortunate, but I think all the rules material for Rokugan has run dry anyways. Geography and culture is much more important to me now.

Exactly. And even if they never published another title of any kind for Rokugan, as long as you have the stuff that has already been released and your imagination, what more do you really need?

 

[ivocaliban]

The Way books are crunchier than the Secrets book. The secrets books have a feat here and a prestige class there, but overall, they are all replete with cultural details.

Based on your reviews, the Secrets books don't look all that appealing. Especially considering the hefty price for a relatively short softcover. However, I have all of the L5R Way books and found them very nice overall. I suppose my question is, assuming you have knowledge of both the Way and Secrets, how do the two stack up when compared? Do you feel the Way books are superior, inferior, or about the same overall?

I've been debating picking up the Secrets books for a long time now, but with a 3rd edition of L5R on the way I'm thinking it might just be better to wait and start anew.

 

[Psion]

I think the appeal of the Secrets book sort of depends on how much you dig exhaustive background detail. As my reviews reflect, I think the Secrets book give me more info than I find useful.

 

[Ranger REG]

I wonder, will Rokugun remain the 'official' setting for Oriental Adventures? Particularly if eventually sometime in the future a 4e (or whatever) version of OA is released.

Goodness, I hope not!!!!

I'd rather they revive Kara-Tur just like the original Oriental Adventures book featured that setting.

 

[ivocaliban]

So, I just plunked down $140 for the 8 Secrets of the Clans books. This means that since January 1st I've spent more on rpg material than I did all of last year combined. Of course this includes Races of Destiny and Complete Adventuer purchased last month. I hope I'm not making a mistake here.