Legend of the Five Rings RPG
Intro
It has been quite a while since I've played L5R (July of 1997), so you're better
off looking at Alderac's L5R site.
Feedback and ideas for what would be useful to
have here can be sent to the comments address. Recently I've used L5R mechanics with Shadowrun, which works pretty
nicely, and I'm currently mulling over using them with Storyteller (Vampire).
Lessons Learned
Note that the bonuses that the Rank 1 School gives Crabs and Unicorns
are points, NOT dice. A Unicorn with Horsemanship 4 using a skill from
horseback gets +4 on the roll, not 4 additional dice. Yes, I know that
the official errata say it is dice, but that's just crazed.
House Rules
Having run L5RPG a few times (and really liking it!) we've adjusted a few
rules to suit our local tastes. We know these aren't what the official
rules say, but like our version better, at least to experiment with.
You're welcome to adopt these in your campaign, or ignore them too.
Mechanics
- Tetsubo does 2k3 damage, not 2k2.
- Fleshcutter arrows do 2k3 damage, not 3k3.
- Arrows don't add Strength to damage dice, but can do more damage with a raise.
- Drawing and firing an arrow in one action requires a raise (or two actions and no raise)
Culture
Rokugan is heavily influenced by Japanese history with several periods mixed
together and a heavy dose of fantasy added up top. Certain elements of the
culture can be adjusted to taste. Here is the approach we prefer in
our games.
- Wearing armor without permission in another Daimyo's territory is considered either 1) an act of war, or 2) banditry. Banditry is punishable by crucifixion. Armor can be legally worn:
- in time of war,
- in the Shadowlands,
- on the Wall in the Crab lands (sometimes interpreted rather liberally),
- when granted written permission by the Daimyo of the Land or his chief magistrate, between stated dates, for a stated purpose, and only more than an hour's ride outside cities.
- Ideas for GMs
- More to come...
Resources
The following materials can be useful for an L5R GM:
- Usagi Yojimbo comic book by Stan Sakai
- Lone Wolf & Cub comic book, out of print but very good for details
- Bushido RPG, recently back in print, set in the Tokugawa / Warring States period
- Land of the Rising Sun RPG by Lee Gold, out of print
- Usagi Yojimbo RPG from Gold Rush Games
- Sengoku RPG due out in 1999 from Gold Rush Games
- Films by Akira Kurosawa: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Hidden
Fortress, Rashomon, Ran
Links
Links to useful L5R sites. Most of these so far concern the L5R CCG
but contain useful information for the RPG as well, and many further links
to other L5R CCG sites. If you know of any other L5R RPG sites, please email
me and I'll add them here.
Campaigns
A placeholder to provide links to any L5R campaigns with web pages.
Stories
A placeholder for eventual writeups of L5R sessions to provide inspiration
and enlightenment to others.
Characters
This section will eventually include various example PCs and NPCs.
For now it merely contains a few notes. All of these assume 10 points of
disadvantages, so having 35 points to spend (plus sometimes 2 points for selling
honor down 1 point)
- Crane Bushi, Doji, 138: Agility 3, Reflex 4, Awareness 4, Void 3, Iaijutsu 2, Honor 2
- Crane Bushi, Doji, 127: Agility 4, Reflex 4, Awareness 4, Quick
Legend of the Five Rings is a trademark of Alderac Entertainment Group
Comments?