Customer Reviews

L5R The Roleplaying Game 3ed (Legend of the Five Rings)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The 3rd edition of the book is wonderful. It's high quality both in the hard cover it has and in the page quality. AEG did a great job there. Also, you won't see such wonderful art in many other RPG books. The art, in many areas, is magnificent and really aids providing you a look and feel for the game.

Now...to get out the minor negative stuff that resides in the 3rd ed. before I rave amount the many very good aspects of the game: the book seems rushed out, in terms of content. A good GM will need to read most of the book to know the rules of the game. The problem is that the book suffers from some organizational issues. Certain key rules are buried in what one might consider more minor/detail oriented sections rather than in an all-inclusive general rules section. There are numerous typography and grammatical/spelling errors (all very minor though and nothing that actually deters one from understanding how something should actually read). My group of gamers as also found some ways to break the game, at least while all the characters are all minor level (the "breaking" is lessened as characters level up) or inflate Insight (insight is used to determine ranks). To that end, we've adjusted some rules to make more logical sense for such skills as Lore, etc., which was ridiculously broken up into multiple skills. We've also banned or lessened certain school skill effects, etc that made a rare few early level characters powerful well beyond their rank/skill level. Also, the book failed to list rules for one or two skills, like expolsives (which will be corrected/added in the Lotus edition, or so rumor has it).

However, any decent GM (gamemaster) can help to easily smooth over any holes (and reading the book is actually very fun, even for a non-GM, non-hardcore\casual RPG'er like me.)

If you're looking for a unique and orginal game, you'll be hard pressed to find a more complete and awesome game with a very well done universe. The setting and rules are very Asian/Eastern in origin and feel. The history is amazing, the community seems awesome, you have the benefits and unique gameplay a D10 system provides over D&D's D20, and the actions a character must take to do well are very different from most RPG games with western influence. Plus, the shear amount of inspiration the book can provide to any gamer is wonderful.

Despite the few holes in gameplay and rules, this sucker get's five stars. All the great aspects of Legend of the Five Rings 3rd ed. truly help to negate the few errors and make it by far one of the best RPG's I've played, well over Star Wars or Dungeon and Dargons.

PS. A note to buyers, to my understanding the Lotus edition is only an expansion, not an all inclusive book for the rules and hisotry (ie. AEG is not fixing an spelling or organizational errors in the 3rd ed. book by releasing Lotus as a new, all inclusiver rule book). Double check me on that though, as I may be wrong.

I think the best critique I can give is to say that this is the first game product I've purchased since I last saw my AEG buddies... GenCon of 2002. Probably 1/3 of the folks named on the front page of the book are known to me personally, though I dropped out of "the gaming scene" about 3 years ago. (OK, I'm a game junkie, and the itch finally came back.)

That being said, the book is beautiful. And I am THRILLED with the return to the original "roll & keep" system. (I hate d20 in all it's incarnations.) I have only 2 comments on the "con" side.

Like other reviewers, I have to say that this book suffers from an incredible lack of editing and proofing. Whole sections are missing, and I found places where proofing notes were made, and ADDED to the printed text. Additionally, you have to read the whole book... the book has 5 sections and 5 writers, and at times, it does read like they didn't talk to each other.

The other issue is the inclusion of "kata". At a glance, it's painfully unbalanced. I cringe at the thought of the actual play experience. I do not mean that kata are unbalancing, but rather, that they are not balanced amongst themselves. IE, no Crane player that wants to live should ever waste the points to purchase a Crane kata, and no Lion player should ever be without the kata available to the Lion.

Basic combat remains the same as it was in 1st edition, and the game adds a fair amount of complexity to character skills in this version. The most significant changes are in dueling and magic. The changes in dueling mean that the Kakita school is no longer the dueling juggernaut that they were previously, but this is probably a good thing. The only down side I see to it is that the Kakita bushi were not given a corresponding improvement in their skirmish combat, leaving the school diminished overall.

In the magic system, there's a notable shift. A lot of spells have changed, mostly to be reduced in power. This is off-set by the increase of 3 additional ranks in all shugenja schools. What this means is that shugenja are much weaker in the early levels than they were previously, but around 4th Rank, it balanaces out and shifts the other way. The only sad part is the loss of versatility, as most spells are now VERY restricted on the number of raises (a game mechanic for bettering your outcome) they may apply to a spell. Gone are the days of The Cresting Wave (one of the greatest feats of magic in the game world, which is now impossible to duplicate).

It is neither good nor bad, but there are a great deal of interesting choices for included information, vs. excluded information. In many cases, I hear that excluded info is scheduled for later releases; but quite often, the choices make me go "hmmm."

One of the things that I'm truly estatic about, however, is the information on Shadowlands Taint and Maho. These topics are vastly improved since 1st Edition, and are mostly laided out in an organized manner. And in the long-run, I think the history overviews will be a godsend. I've certainly gotten enough game ideas to torment my local players for years to come.

Playing and loving L5R for almost a year now, I did have some expectations from the 3rd edition. The new version of the game is a mixed package so the review will be 2 sections: the good and the bad (no ugly =).

good: the book is gorgeous!! The art is classy and well done. The production value for this book is very high and at about 30 bucks it should be. Moving on, the content is dense and every page is filled with some sort of more or less useful or colorfull information about Rokugan(setting, the Empire) and its inhabitants. One of the highs (later a low) of this book is just how much of jam-packed info this tome contains, since you technically do not need any other book to start the adventures. Also a good index is definetely a plus as well as all the extra info on Rokugani life which make the game seem very colorful and deep.

bad: Actually some of the goods of this edition are also its own spoils (at least for me.) For example the art is indeed very good, however it feels exaggerated by showing the L5R world in a D&D-esque "super-fantasy" style. What makes L5R so captivating and engrossing is its vivid sence of realism, its griddy and very human life. The earlier edition had superb art in that respect which although being black and white showed very human samurai, and many times even delivered a mild culture shock as it had a very distinct oriental feel. That was the 1992's 1st edition though, and the 3rd version seems to have taken the fantasy, exaggerated pose, comic book feel approach to its art. Same goes for the rules however. After a careful study the book shows signs of catering to the bored-powergamer community. That is to say that gone is the focus on roleplaying and welcome is the emphasis on all those nifty, different, annoying and basicly the same ways to achieve some extraordinary combat result or "super-succeeding" in another way, instead of getting into your character or the story. The combat is somewhat prolonged as a result with more little tricks and quirks you can do which in my opinion just bog down the action and put your mind into the paper instead of the action. Also just as the amount of text is a plus it is also a minus as the player or the GM must weed through all the text just to find what they need (the poor organization of the chapters do not help either.)

So should one buy this book? Well, hard to say. If you like fantasy flare to your oriental RPG's and enjoy a combat and character system with loads of extras and peripherals, colorful art and somewhat spacy design, then by all mean the 3rd ed. is for you! If you are focused on a more realistic and story engrossing oriental RPG, with a simple combat and magic system, which puts the flexibility into your lap intead of into longer rules, the try the 1st edition L5R, "Legend of the Five Rings, Roleplaying in the Emerald Empire" (1992.) Its only 3-6 bucks right here on Amazon!!

Either way, L5R is a great rpg no matter what though so 1st or 3rd should just be a matter of preference. Too bad d20 has got the market on lockdown, there are a lot of whilting great rpgs out there...

This is a great book. The L5R system is back, improved, and with no D20 present. The history is all here, although the summary is a bit brief (You'll probably want to get a more details from the 3 storyline books, Time of the Void, Hidden Emperor, and Four Winds).
I would have given the book a 5, if not for the numerous typos. Misspellings and bad grammar are present throughout, and although they are not hard to figure out, they are annoying. What is a problem is the accidental retention (from an earlier phase of editing) of an entire section which not only was not supposed to be included, but outright contradicts info found elsewhere in the book. Shame on Alderac for skimping on quality control and copy editing.
Nevertheless, if you like RPGs, you should get this, though you may want to wait for a new printing.

I have to say that being a long time fan of the RPG series, I was a little skeptical about what we would be recieving in this 3rd Edition. Well, my skepticism, which WAS warranted considering the releases we had recieved in the last 3 to 4 years, was laid to rest. The new 3rd Edition simply addressed alot of the things that made me "shrug". Firstly... if asthetics mean anything to you the volume is simply beautiful. The paper quality and general bookbinding makes this edition superior to any others. Never has Rokugan looked so stylish.
Secondly, the skill mechanics, as you may have heard, has been slimmed down and made "wise", again. I don't mean to imply that the game has been dumbed-down; surely it isn't. Players now, just simply, have more options. Basically, they took a good amount of the "good" D20 material and put it in one volume. So listen... grab a katana, or some spell-casting scrolls, and check your honor. This game is a keeper!

Alderac entertainment has released a new edition of the legend of the five rings game, harkening back to the old roll and keep system. In my opinion, this is a refreshing change from the previous attempt to convert the game into the d20 rule set.

For those that have played the older versions of the game, you will find it largely unchanged. There are some revisions and expansions of the game mechanics, the most notable being the inclusion of kata. Kata are special abilities that can be purchased with experience points by bushi(warrior) characters that grant them added combat prowess. This helps add a mystical element to bushi and helps balance them with the shugenja characters.

In addition, there is an expansive timeline in the beginning of the book that helps give new players, or those that have been away from the game for awhile, an overview of the history of Rokugan.

Though this is an excellent book there is a downside. The artwork can be spotty in some places, but is overall solid. The only other real issue is that some new players might find the game a bit confusing at first, especially if they are accustomed to playing d20 games. This problem could have been solved by the inclusion of a few more examples of the game mechanics.
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The product came exactly like described. There was no problem with shipping and we did all conforming the standards. So it was perfect for me.

the book arrived on the estimated date, package was not damaged, everything perfect.
and the book...the book is just great, it has a meny differences with the previous one but it is just great...i'll recomend it to everyone that would like to start playing!

This game is simply stupendous. The way it captures the magic of Samurai Cinema and anime action is uncanny (swordfighting, Duels of honour, bandit cheiftains, my Fu is better than your Fu battles in the streets, ghost-hunting, demon-hunting, evil-sorcerers, backstabbing politicians vieing for power, greedy and ambitious, and every truth is hidden behind a veil of lies).

The game mechanics are simple, easy to learn and fast flowing, using only a handful of ten sided dice. A characters skills and attributes are the basis for self improvement, increasing with use and experience. Additionally each Bushi (Samurai) school has techniques that are slowly learned to give the players characters an edge in combat, or in court. Shugenja (Priest-Wizards) pray to spirits, gods and ancestors to grain their magic, their magic can be as subtle as the breeze or as harsh as lightning, equally elemnental energies on their foes.

The Land of Rokugan is one steeped in tradtion. Their are strict rules of behaviour, honour is all important, and appearances are everything. The seven great clans are descended from gods. Thier childrens children vie for power and dominance across the land. There are ways of doing war, on the batlefiled, or in the halls of power withing the Imperial court. The courtiers are as feared and respected as teh generals of the great clans. Ninja are know to be a fable to scare children, yet black clad assassins stalk the night. Combat is swift and deadly.

To the south is the Shadowlands, a great blighted land ruled by a falled god Fu-Leng. Samurai remain ever vigilant for his legions of zombies, ogres, goblins and cthuloid horrors invading from the south. Shugenja remain ever prayerful, ever mindul of those of their number turning to corrupt, unspeakable magic in the quest for power.

Accross the Easter Seas, the Northern Mountains and Western Deserts are the land of the gaijin(foreigners). After a few missunderstandings, all foreigners are distrusted, feared and reviled as uncivlizied, traitorous and corrupt. The borders of Rokugan are closed to outsiders, by Imperial decree foreign cannon and muskets are outlawed, violations punichable by death.

All in all, this game, this world is one that can provide may years of satisfying roleplaying for any group. A understanding and passion for samurai fiction is a bonus, but not neccisary to enjoy this game.

THREE THUMBS UP.

Oh, and if you like this game, a must have additions is the "City of Lies" boxed campaign set.

This book is all style, no substance. Once the awe of the attractive parchment-like pages and recycled card game art wears off, it becomes obvious that this was a rushed product.

There's an editor's note in the geography section that made it through two printings. There are several kata based on a polearm initiative bonus that was removed during playtesting. There are many, many typos.

This book was also made with veterans in mind. The book attempts to drown new players in metaplot. The timeline attempts to explain complicated events with two sentence blurbs, and countains things that no PC would know. The book provides very little guidance to would-be GMs.