Hey there,
Due to stress-related circumstances, my Legend of the Five Rings Campaign: Heart and Souls has been cancelled. It’s a tough choice, but a reality in the hobby. Sometimes campaigns just don’t pan out the way you hoped they would. That said I still would like to take the time to thank all my players who have participated in the campaign. I had a blast running the game, and was very amused by the fact that we got this game to 7 sessions without a single initiative roll.
It’s little surprise that I enjoy Legend of the Five Rings. Just taking a look at the sheer number of Actual Play Reports available in this blog should clue people in on just how much I enjoy the game.
This GM’s Day Sale is a boon to anyone looking to get into the game or those looking to complete their collection as all of the 4th Edition books are at 25% off!
Best iteration of the rules matched with a timeline-neutral approach that allows GMs and players to play L5R their way, the 4th Edition is the best time to get into this awesome setting.
While not necessarily timeline-neutral the Second City boxed set is an incredibly detailed setting book that allows for a lot of exploration into a whole new world where the players get a chance to set a new status quo. With a detailed description of the setting, new npcs, new mechanics and a full campaign with maps, this box has everything.
For those who want to know more about the default setting of Rokugan, Emerald Empire dives into the details of life in the Empire, from culture, to laws, to religion and norms. This book brings Rokugan to life.
With in-depth analysis on the themes, philosophies families and histories of each of the Great Clans, this book is like a compilation of splatbooks in a single tome. Players will definitely want this for access to more schools and player options for their favorite clans.
The closest thing to a Monster Manual for the game, Enemies presents not just a listing of enemies, but discusses their agendas, histories and assets in a manner that helps GMs present them as credible and well-rounded threats that can spin off entire campaigns by themselves.
The Book of Air
The Book of Earth
The element-themed books discuss facets of rokugan reflected in the various elements. Air discusses high art, dueling, archery and air magic, while Earth delves into armors, strongholds, sumai and earth magics. An excellent series of additions to the line.
Detailing important eras in the massive history of Rokugan make this book a must have for GMs looking for more ways to approach the game. Each era spins off the Empire in new and interesting ways, including the fan-favorite alternate history of the 1000 Years of Darkness.
Detailing cities from each of the Clans, Strongholds of the Empire is a great book for use as a kickoff of a campaign per location. Each city is detailed and has a unique flavor and plot hooks to support different kinds of campaigns.
One of the interesting parts about running a political action is the acknowledgment that once I’ve allowed players to take secret actions off-camera, I suddenly have license to do so more blatantly with NPCS.
Part of the challenge of running a political game is the need to have a massive stable of NPCs. People of various ranks and occupations who have varying (often opposing) agendas. These NPCs also exhibit differing levels of competency with regards to the pursuit of their goals, from the inept, to the frighteningly capable.
Of course, the scariest part of this setup is that it is very prone to being perceived by players as “cheating” on my part. As a GM, I’m in a position where I know what all the players are doing at any given time, while they don’t have the insight that I have on what the NPCs are doing. This is where GM trust plays an incredibly large part. I’m grateful that my players still trust me so far, as the last game I ran had a very strong twist that could easily have led to player mutiny.
I put in a large amount of effort in telegraphing as much of the enemy’s intent as possible during moments when a player was directly able to hear it or sniff it out, but when the event occured, a lot of people were caught off guard. Thankfully I see a lot of ways by which the players can rally and fix the situation and come out stronger for it.
Seven games into the campaign, and we’re at an interesting point in the game. Lot’s of things have happened, and now the setting as the team knows it is changing. The team was caught flat-footed by some of the events here, but I’m hoping that by the end of this, the team will have managed to rally together and show the world what the Crane are capable of.
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After the one weekend break due to Real Life obligations, I’m going to be running the next installment of the All-Crane Clan Campaign “Hearts and Souls” agian. I have to admit that even after six entire sessions of this game, I still approach it with a little bit of hesitation as political games aren’t exactly my forte. That said the past six games aren’t so bad, and things are finally coming to a head.
My biggest concern now is to figure out pacing. Right now some sessions feel really slow while others seem to be escalating too fast. While I normally don’t apply brakes to escalation unless things are spiraling out of control, I feel the need to make sure that I handle pacing carefully in this game. This is perhaps the trickiest part of a political game, how do you gauge when something is actually doing okay, and when is it too dangerous, or too slow? It’s a difficult question to answer and one that I’m still grappling with.
That said, there’s a lot of plot hooks that are going to be coming up next session, and I’m hoping that I manage to get through all of them in tomorrow’s session. Plenty of new NPCs to talk to, and plots to hatch. Sooner or later a weapon is going to be drawn in this game, and hopefully it’ll have the same kind of gravity and seriousness as brandishing a gun will in real life. I’ve gone for this long without a single initiative roll, so this could very well herald a moment of change.
I remember writing in the actual play reports that I’m taking the kid gloves off, and I think that will start to show soon. Changes are in the horizon, and people are starting to take notice one way or another. There’s going to be some rather interesting changes in Rokugan from what I can see, and it’s now a question of how my players turn crisis into an opportunity.
