Monkey Magic!

If you are English and of a certain age, you will remember a television series by the name of Monkey. Although based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West, the television series was in fact Japanese and would be dubbed into English as Monkey. It was broadcast by the BBC in the early evening on BBC2 beginning in 1979 and would become a cult favourite, telling as it did of the adventures of the upstart Monkey King, who after having been released from Heaven-imposed imprisonment by Tripitaka, a Buddhist monk, must accompany by the monk on a pilgrimage to India. They are joined by Sandy and Pigsy, ex-angels who were expelled from Heaven for failing to prevent the irrepressible Monkey’s misdemeanours and turned into ‘monsters’. The series ran for two seasons and was noted for its over the top wuxia action; its ‘Oriental’ accents; and its boundless optimism.

Irrepressible! is the RPG based on Monkey.  Published by Postmortem Studios via Chronicle City, it is a diceless RPG of mythic moral adventure in a China of fable and legend. The players take not the roles of Tripitaka or Monkey, Sandy or Pigsy—though the stats for all four are included in the rulebook—but Pilgrims like them. Heroes, monsters, monks, and other who have been cast out of Heaven for transgressing its many laws, or even the undead or demons, they are all pilgrims trying to get back into Heaven. In order to do that, they must redeem themselves and society at large, which Buddha says has lost its way and fallen prey to earthquakes and floods, famine and fire, banditry and warfare, corruption and immorality. By exposing the corruption and immorality and saving the peoples of the Earth, the Pilgrims can bring enlightenment to society and achieve redemption.

Each Pilgrim is defined by a Weakness, a fatal flaw that he cannot overcome; a Curse, whatever punishment Heaven has opposed upon him; four Traits, powerful skills, abilities, or powers such as Monkey’s ‘Cloud Flying’; and six Virtues. Each Virtue has a yin/yang value, essentially a Virtue/Demon pairing. The six are ‘Charity/Selfishness’, ‘Uprightness/Wickedness’, ‘Forbearance/Impatience’, ‘Dispassion/Passion’, ‘Dauntless/Cowardice’, and ‘Contemplation/Impetuosity’. Each pairing has a mid-point, representing perfect balance, and can go five points either way. Virtues represent a Pilgrim moving towards Enlightenment and grant him Karma, whilst Demons are easier to call upon and more effective when undertaking actions. 

A player chooses his character’s Weakness and Curse, Traits, and assigns fifteen points to his Virtues and Demons. Of each pairing, a player can only assign these points to one side of a pairing, thus to ‘Uprightness’ or ‘Wickedness’, but not both. Lastly, he adds up all of the points assigned to Virtues. This is his Enlightenment. When it reaches twenty-five, the Pilgrim can ascend to Heaven—and so becomes an NPC.

Our sample Pilgim is Shi Yusheng, was once the darling of the court, mannered, pretty, charming, and talented. Yet such a situation could not last and she found her position at the court slipping as it became enamoured of one young ingénue after another. She knew that she had to find a way to reclaim her beauty, her search involving ever stranger methods, finally settling upon alchemy as a means to gain her looks and keep it. It took years, but eventually she managed it, but upon attaining both, she was punished for her transgression against the Mandate of Heaven. She has been cursed to be eternally ugly except for a single hour per day when she as beautiful as she once did—during the rest of the time, she usually wears a veil.

Name: Shi Yusheng
Weakness: I can never look less than my best
Curse: Immortally ugly
Trait: Alchemist
Trait: My clothes are my weapons
Trait: A lady of the court
Trait: I am old and wise

Virtues & Demons

Charity OOOOO/O/XXXOO Selfishness

Uprightness OOOOO/O/XXOOO Wickedness

Forbearance OOOXX/O/OOOOO Impatience

Dispassion OOOOO/O/XXXOO Passion

Dauntless OOXXX/O/OOOOO Cowardice

Contemplation OOOXX/O/OOOOO Impetuosity

Enlightenment

7

Doing anything in Irrepressible! involves drawing from the Six Demon Bag. It contains not just the potential universe, but its luck and karma—the latter represented by beads. It contains five white beads for each Pilgrim, plus white beads equal to the value of each Pilgrim’s Virtues. So for example, Shi Yusheng would contribute just seven white beads to the Six Demon Bag as well as the standard five white beads. In addition, the Six Demon Bag contains a single black bead—this represents the negative karma.

The base difficulty of an action determines the number of beads to be drawn to succeed at it, the difficulty modified by the appropriate Virtue or Demon and by the Pilgrim’s Weakness or Curse if appropriate. If all of the beads drawn are white, then the Pilgrim succeeds, if one is black, then he suffers a setback, or even a disaster. If a Pilgrim wants to succeed spectacularly, then he can draw yet more beads. All of the beads drawn are kept in front of the players and only go back into the Six Demon Bag when the black bead is drawn. Essentially the Pilgrims are pushing their luck whenever they draw from the Six Demon Bag and the more actions they attempt, the more likelihood that one of their number will suffer a setback or disaster. This adds a degree of dramatic tension to the play of Irrepressible! It is possible to add beads back into the Six Demon Bag during play and to increase the number of beads by doing something heroic and gaining the notice of Heaven in doing so, or by a Pilgrim improving one of his Virtues.

Scenarios are described in terms of ‘Scrolls’, mini-campaigns in terms of ‘Books of Scrolls’, and whole campaigns of ‘Books’ in terms of ‘Sagas’, the latter representing a whole pilgrimage. Each Scroll is bookended by a proverb at its beginning and a lesson discussing what happens if the proverb is fulfilled or what happens if it is not at Scroll’s end, just as was heard at the beginning and end of each episode of Monkey. Solving the intervening adventure involves making one or more moral choices, which ultimately should fulfil—or not—the proverb that inspired the adventure. Irrepressible! includes a lengthy list of Chinese proverbs. It also includes a sample scroll, ‘The Blood Village Scroll’, a short, ready-to-play scenario that serves as a solid example of a Scroll. 

Unfortunately, as much fun as Irrepressible! might well be, the rulebook is anything but that. It opens poorly. Once the engaging introduction is out of the way, the rulebook jumps straight into a fifteen-page description of Heaven and its various inhabitants, from the Jade Emperor down to all of the lesser gods. None of this information is irrelevant to the game or its setting, but it takes twenty pages—one third of Irrepressible!—before an explanation is given as to what the players and their characters do in the game. It takes another fifteen pages—now over a half of Irrepressible!—before the author gets round to explaining what the GM and his players need in order to play Irrepressible!; vitally important because the game is diceless. Thus there is no mention of the Six Demon Bag, let alone the fact that Irrepressible! requires beads to play. Despite containing fifteen pages devoted to Heaven, Irrepressible! contains nothing describing where the adventures take place—Earth. Except that is, in the included Scroll. A bibliography would have been nice too.

Ultimately Irrepressible! is let down by self-editing and underdevelopment. It deserves to be better organised and better presented—perhaps in a second edition? Nevertheless, although just like Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, Irrepressible! has its problems, it rises above them to present a simple narrative driven game of redemption, moral choices, and Monkey magic!

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Courtly Missives

Turn the clock back thirty years and the ‘Microgame’ was a small board game packaged complete in a small box. Typically they were a type of wargame printed on paper stock and heavily themed. The first was Ogre*, published in 1977 by Metagaming Concepts, but over the course of the next decade, it would be joined by titles from notable publishers such as Steve Jackson Games, Task Force Games, and TSR, Inc. In modern gaming parlance, a Microgame is a little game, a game that can be played in fifteen minutes or less. The other change to the Microgame concept is that they are no longer wargames, but are instead mini-euro style games that emphasise competition rather than combat.

*The irony is of course that the most recent version of Ogre, published by Steve Jackson Games weighs close to 30 lbs. Some microgame…

Love Letter is typical of this new style of Microgame, although untypically, it is not a European game. Originally published in Japan, Love Letter has since been published in several English language editions by Alderac Entertainment Group, better known for the games Smash Up! and the Legend of the Five Rings RPG and the Collectible Card Game (CCG) it is based upon. The first is Love Letter – Tempest Edition, which is set in the City-State of Tempest and comes in a cute velvet bag; the second is Love Letter – Kanai Factory Limited Edition, which uses the art from the original Japanese version of the game; and Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition, which is set in Rokugan, the same setting as that of the RPG and the Collectible Card Game. It is this version of the game that is being reviewed today, suitably on St. Valentine’s Day.

The Imperial princess, Iweko Miaka, the youngest of Empress Iweko’s children is eligible for marriage. Her betrothal is set to be a great contest between the seven samurai clans of the Emerald Empire—for in winning her hand in marriage a samurai will bring great standing and glory to his clan. Of course, such an important marriage will be entirely political, but surely the only daughter of the Empress has her mother’s ear and so will have some say as to the man who will marry her? Thus what better way to influence the decision than by winning the heart of the princess herself? Unfortunately, Iweko Miaka is a shy young creature, one who hardly speaks at court and interacts rarely with the visiting courtiers. Thus she cannot be approached directly and another means of contacting her must be found—that of the courtly letter. Her suitors are thus trying to get a letter to the princess via one of her inner circle, from her guards and her courtiers to her hatamoto and her sensei, all the whilst fending off the suits of rival samurai.

Designed for between two and four players aged ten and up, Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition is card game that consists of just sixteen game cards, four reference cards, and thirteen Tokens of Affection as well as a tiny, thirty-two page rules booklet. The game altogether comes in an attractive velvet bag, this time green rather than the red of Love Letter – Tempest Edition. (Unlike the Love Letter – Kanai Factory Limited Edition, the Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition does not include any promotional cards). The game is played over a series of rounds in which the players attempt to press their suit. Their aim is have the card with the highest value at the end of each round—if they do, then that player is awarded a Token of Affection. Garner enough Tokens of Affection, the number depending on the number of players, then their suit has been successful and Princess Miaka’s hand has been won.

Each of the cards has a value of between one and eight, ranging from one for Seppun Tasuke, the Guard to the eight of the Princess herself, Iweko Miaka. Each card also has an ability that is triggered once it is discarded. Seppun Tasuke, the Guard, can select a player and ask him if he has that card, forcing him out of the round if he does. The Courtier, Shosuro Yamazaki, can examine another player’s cards, as can the Diplomat, Kaiu Akemi, but when the Diplomat does so, the two cards are compared and the suitor with the lower value hand must retire from the round. When discarded, the Shugenja, Isawa Tenkawa, prevents a suitor from being targeted for a whole turn while Matsu Misato, the Hatamoto, forces another player to discard his hand and draw a new hand. The Manipulator, Doji Takato, forces another player to trade hands with the suitor, while Togashi Gozato, the Sensei must be discarded if a player has either the Manipulator or the Hatamoto in his hand. Lastly, if the Princess is discarded, she has received the suitor’s letter and thrown onto the fire. That suitor—or player—is out of the round.

At the start of the game, the sixteen card deck is shuffled and one card discarded face down. This acts as a random element so that the players do not know ‘exactly’ what is in the deck. Then each player receives one card—this is his hand. On his turn, he draws another card and must discard one of the two cards he has. Each discarded card has an effect as described above, but is discarded face up so that every player can see what cards have been played. There only being fifteen cards in the deck, the players have some idea as what cards have been discarded and what still remains in play—essentially, Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition encourages the counting of cards—as do the other versions of the game! Play continues until the last card is drawn and its player discards one of his cards. Then each player reveals the single card he has in his hand and the player who has the card with the highest value has successfully pressed his suit and earns a Token of Affection from Princess Miaka.

Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition is a game of deduction and risk, one in which what a player can do on his turn is limited to just one of two actions. These will often force a player to do something to his disadvantage because it is the better of his two options. For example, Louise holds Princess Miaka in her hand. It has a value of eight and if she can hold it until the end of the round, then Louise will have managed to get her letter directly into the hands of the Princess and thus won a Token of Affection. On her turn she draws the Manipulator, Doji Takato. Her choice is to discard the Princess, but this would force her out of the round, or Doji Takato, which means that she has to trade hands with another player. She opts for the latter, trading hands with Dave, gaining Seppun Tasuke, the Guard. While the Guard only has a value of eight at the end of the round, it can be used to name another card and if successful, force a player out of the round. Louise has gained valuable information—she knows what card Dave has. Dave also knows this, but likewise cannot discard the Princess. Fortunately, on his turn Dave draws the Shugenja, Isawa Tenkawa, and goes to pray with him, preventing his being targeted until his next turn. Thus Louise cannot use her Guard to name the Princess—yet!

So is Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition a fitting Legends of the Five Rings game? Thematically, it is perfect fit. Not least in the fact that the bag it comes in has the symbols for Rukogan’s five elements—air, earth, fire, water, and void—embroidered on the back, and that the art used to illustrate the game is drawn from the publisher’s extensive back catalogue used to illustrate both the CCG and the RPG. The art also specifically illustrates characters within the setting of the Emerald Empire. Further, within the Emerald Empire, the sending of letters is a courtly art. In addition, the functions of the cards have been mapped onto particular figures. For example, the most common card type in Love Letter is the Guard, but here the same function is performed by Seppun Tasuke, a member of the imperial family tasked with protecting the Empress. Similarly, the ability of the Clown in Love Letter to examine another player’s hand is adopted by the Courtier Shosuro Yamazaki from the Scorpion Clan and the ability of the General in Love Letter to trade hands with another player has been given to Doji Takato of the Crane Clan who is described as a Manipulator.

The setting of the imperial court of the Emerald Empire is supported by the rulebook. It runs to thirty-two pages, much of which is devoted to detailing the characters on the cards, which if the players want, adds depth and feel to the game. Fans of Legend of the Five Rings, whether of the CCG or the RPG will appreciate this aspect of the game. Certainly there is enough background here that knowledgeable players could bring a degree of roleplaying to the game as they play.

With a playing time of some thirty minutes, Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition is perhaps a bit too long to really qualify as a Microgame. Although it is possible to play with two suitors, it is not as enjoyable a game to play—simply it plays better with three or four players. (It is disappointing that the game does not accommodate more players, but that should not be held against Love Letter). With three or four players then, it is a solidly designed filler game, one that combines the need for careful deduction and a little guess work with a fitting theme. Managing to be both charming and quick, Love Letter – Legend of the Five Rings Edition is a lovely game that fits nicely into any games collection.

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Heavy Metal Chanbara

Two decades ago the last Empress of the Bright Empire vanished, possibly spirited away by the darkness that literally spread from the coronation gift presented to her by her uncle, the Witch-King. The Empress' Honour Guard stepped forward to govern the regions of the empire in her stead, but as the darkness spread so it seemed did a madness… It warped the land of Konoyo and isolated her peoples, disrupted the social order, and drove each ruling member of the Honour Guard, now calling themselves the Lord Generals to push for their territories’ independence. New technologies, once the province of the Onji-Kaji, the craftsmen of the gods, further weakened the social order. The Witch-King had already commanded Kikai, the machines known as war-walkers in battle, but engineers developed black powder and from there, bombs and grenades, repeating pistols and rifles, placing great firepower within the ownership of the peasant and noble alike. In the Age of the Akigara, that of the Empty Throne, there is opportunity aplenty for samurai and scholar, noble and peasant, ronin and ninja, kensei and kikai driver, onmyoji and yakuza alike to make a name for himself, even as the world seems to be turned upside down…

This is the setting for Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin, an RPG published by Reality Blurs, Inc. Employing the Savage Worlds rules published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group, it promises “Oriental Action! Savage Style” and ‘heavy metal chanbara’, something that the slightly cinematic mechanics of Savage Worlds can deliver. It combines Japanese style fantasy with its myth as well as a fantasy take upon a classic element of Japanese anime – mecha. It offers numerable character options – Artisan, Ashigaru, Bandit, Bodyguard, Entertainer, Kensei, Ninja, Noble, Priest, Ronin, Scholar, and Yakuza will be familiar to most gamers. New to Iron Dynasty are the ganso, masters of machinery; kikai driver, war walker pilot; makoto, chosen by the kami; onmyoji, capable drawing and commanding the energies from the around them; and yamabushi, mountain warriors who have come down from remote temples. 

Character creation is a simple process, adhering to the given rules for Savage Worlds. A player purchases dice levels to assign to his character’s Attributes and Skills, selects his Defining Interests and Languages as well as Edges (advantages). If he wants more Attributes, Skills, or Edges, he selects Hindrances (disadvantages). All characters are human, so all characters receive a free Edge. The process is easy, but this being a Savage Worlds setting, the best way to create a character is to select a character type and any associated Edges and work backwards to ensure that the character qualifies. (It should be pointed out that this is common of many RPGs, but is particularly so of Savage Worlds because the Edges define a character so). So for example, the Geisha requires a character to be female and have Smarts d6 and Persuade d6, whereas Close Fighting requires Novice, Agility d8, and Fighting d8. 

Our first sample character is closest to what most people would think fits the Chanbara genre. She is a Ronin, an honourless swordswoman forced to take up her father’s katana after he is killed in a border skirmish that became an invasion from a rival region. Rather than be captured by the invaders, Tsutaro fled and has been wandering the land ever since.

Tsutaro, Ronin
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d4
Skills: Fighting d10, Climbing d6, Notice d6, Persuade d6, Stealth d6, Survival d4, Tracking d4
Defining Interests/Languages: Classical Literature, Etiquette, Folklore 
Charisma: +1
Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: All Thumbs (Minor), Hero (Major), Loyal (Minor)
Edges: High Born, Quick, Signature Moves (Katana)
Gear: Katana (Str+d8)

In supporting both roles traditional to the chanbara genre and newly presented to this setting, Iron Dynasty introduces innumerable Edges as well as a few Hindrances. Many of these are combat related, for example, ‘Arrow Cutting’ enables a character to block missile weapons, ‘Empty Hands’ makes a character’s unarmed attacks deadlier, whilst ‘Shadow Arts’ grants a bonus to tricks when using the interplay between light and dark. The latter of course is perfect for ninja characters. Others also support the traditional elements necessary to a Japan-like RPG setting, such as ‘Geisha’, ‘Disgraced/Dishonourable’, and ‘Cultured’. Many of the new Edges support aspects particular to the setting, including Arcane Background (Ganso), which enables a Ganso to craft wondrous devices capable of simulating the effects of Powers such as armour, bolt, fly, healing, and stun. In addition to selecting more Powers to emulate, a Ganso could select other Edges and take Craft Device to grant a bonus to one of his Attributes or Gadget to simulate another Edge. For example, the Ambidextrous Edge could be simulated with a Gadget called ‘A Two-Handed Approach’, the character being free to name the device as he wishes. Plus a character can lend his devices to the other player characters.

Both Arcane Background (Makoto) and Arcane Background (Onmyojio) are supported in similar fashion with further Edges that enhance their effects. Where those effects are primarily external, those for Ki Control are internal as the character exerts control over his own life energy. These include armour, boost trait, deflection amongst others, and again, there are further Edges that enhance the core Edge. Unlike Edges like Arcane Background (Ganso), Arcane Background (Makoto), and Arcane Background (Onmyojio), the Ki Control Edge is not an Arcane Background and cannot be combined with an Arcane Background. That said, the Sensei (or GM) can allow a character to select the Ki Control Edge after character creation as a result of play. Combining the Ki Control Edge with other Edges, for example, with ‘Shadow Arts’ to make an interesting Ninja or ‘Signature Moves (Katana)’ to create a Wuxia style samurai.

Our sample Ganso is a peasant miner who discovered his ability to work with machines after helping the mine’s engineer. He dreams of building his own kikai, but so far he has only managed to build a rope launching device that allows him to climb up and down and because the rope can be stiffened, to launch himself into the air. The rope can also be launched to entangle others. 

Bachida, Peasant Engineer
Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Climbing d4, Fighting d4, Gearcraft d8, Notice d8, Repair d8, Persuade d4, Shooting d4, Survival d4
Defining Interests/Languages: Lantern Making, Kikai Lore, Mining
Charisma: -2
Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Clueless (Major), Combat Novice (Minor), Low Born (Minor) 
Edges: Apprentice Engineer, Arcane Background (Ganso), Student of the Way
Powers: entangle, fly
Gear: Katana (Str+d8)

Characters are supported by setting appropriate Defining Interests, as well as a nicely done and nicely illustrated armoury. New rules allow existing skills to be used in new ways – Intimidation as Interrogation and Persuasion as Seduction, for example, whilst Reputation rules provide a means of measuring character standing and progression within the setting. Within the setting it replaces the Honour System that was broken when so many noble houses collapsed and many of those remaining used the new technology to make themselves independent. A character’s Reputation starts at zero and can go down to -100 and up to +100. There are benefits to be gained, not all of them positive, as a character alters his Reputation. Despite the loss of the Honour System, the Caste System persists. Rules for Duelling also work in conjunction with the Reputation rules and they work whatever form of duelling the character engages in – swordsmanship, firearms, or other…

For the most the rules and character generation in Iron Dynasty are well done. One issue is that character generation does not tie characters into the setting as well as it should. Each player is expected to select a home province for his character. It would have been nice if there had been small mechanical benefit to help a player make this selection. One obvious omission from amongst the numerous Edges and options is that of Legendary Edges. What this means is that progression for the characters is limited and they cannot be truly heroic within the setting, at least not mechanically. Another issue is that it is all too easy to be overwhelmed by these options, but the rulebook handily suggests the roles that a party in Iron Dynasty should fulfil – Healer, Infiltrator, Talker, Thinker, and Warrior. 

For the Sensei, Iron Dynasty gives a more detailed examination of Konoyo and its nine provinces. This includes places of interest and whispers and rumours. There is also a guide to creating monsters and the corrupted – men who have been tainted by mad kami or the land itself. This is in addition to the bestiary, but idea here is that the true threats and enemies faced by the player characters should be truly unique. Along with the very useful set of Plot Generation tables, the Sensei is given not just one, but seven Campaign Frameworks that in turn deal with different aspects of the setting. Just because the author can, the first of these is a ‘Heroes of the People’ style campaign entitled ‘The Seven, Oh, Y'Know…’, in which our heroes help defend a village against ever more dangerous foes… Rounding out the book is a description of three of the setting’s legendary Kakai and descriptions of various mystical artefacts.

Physically, Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin is well presented and nicely illustrated. The setting of Konoyo feels underwritten though and it does not help that the book itself could have been better organised. The issue is that the author does not pitch the book and the setting as clearly and successfully as he could have done. It needed to be more up front about what the book and the setting is about. Nevertheless, once the reader gets into the book the setting, at least in terms of character options and the adventuring possibilities as presented in the Campaign Frameworks, more than make up for the lack of a pitch upfront. 

The elements that Iron Dynasty introduces to feudal Japan may prove to be unpalatable to the purist, the player or GM that does not want their Far East to be quite as fantastical as that presented in Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin. Nevertheless, what the rules do is provide for some great character concepts and the means to play them as well as foes and stories that the Sensei can present to the players and their characters. The result is that Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin is a very playable fantastical version of chanbara Japan.

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Beware Parties Bearing...

The truth of the matter is that Dungeons & Dragons has always had a slightly awkward relationship when it comes to Oriental fantasy. Whether it is the “Kitchen Sink” and complexity approach of Oriental Adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition; the combination of the dual stats and the rich setting of Rokugan that brought together Alderac Entertainment Group’s Legends of the Five Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition; or the woefully underdeveloped, if brilliantly titled, Ruins & Ronin, written for use with the Swords & Wizardry White Box; the end result has never really been all that satisfying. So the fact that Rite Publishing has published a trilogy of adventures for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game set in its own Japanese style milieu, Kaidan (currently on its own Kickstarter program), was not necessarily encouraging. The trilogy, entitled Curse of the Golden Spear is available in print via Cubicle Seven Entertainment.

Inspired by Japanese folklore as much as its history, the setting of Kaidan – which means “Ghost Story” in Japanese – consists of a number of islands that have long been isolated from the rest of the world for three basic reasons. The first is political, as gaijin or foreigners are forbidden from setting foot on Kaidanese soil by Imperial Decree; the second is physical, as the islands are surrounding by a great wall of forbidding fog that few sailors dare to penetrate; and the third… Well, that will be discovered by the player characters as they play through the events of the trilogy, beginning with Curse of the Golden Spear: Part 1 – The Gift. Given the name of the setting, it is no surprise that it focuses on horror and mystery as much as it does adventure and combat.

As the trilogy opens, the political bar that previously prevented entry onto the islands of Kaidan has been lifted. By Imperial decree, Kaidan’s ports have been opened to gaijin sailors and merchants; which is why at the beginning of The Gift, the party is aboard a ship sailing towards Kaidan. It is accompanying a merchant, Marl Tyro, who has an important gift that he wishes to deliver to Lord Hachiwara of Tsue-jo, daimyo of Oniba province on Yonshu Island. The player characters have been hired by Tarl to serve as bodyguards, not necessarily his bodyguards, but bodyguards for the gift itself, which is contained in a heavy mahogany chest.

Initially, the scenario focuses on the attempts by Marl Tyro and the player characters to get further than the “Foreigners’ Port” of Gaijinoshima as the papers necessary to travel beyond its limits and onto Yonshu Island seem to be unavailable. Mostly this will involve their dealing with some of Kaiden’s less than savoury inhabitants, though in Kaidanese eyes, they are only marginally less savoury than the gaijin player characters! Once off the island and onto Yonshu Island, the party must make its way by road to the city of Tsue-jo, their journey punctuated by various odd encounters or harried by bandits and other threats.

For the most part, The Gift is a “Road Trip” style adventure. For the most part, it reads and plays as standard Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder Roleplaying Game scenario, but the author does add elements that impart the difference of the setting compared to other occidental fantasy settings. Most notably in the dealings with the actual masters of Gaijinoshima, in an overnight stop at a cursed inn, and a contest with some of Kaidan’s outré inhabitants. The second of these, the overnight stop at a cursed inn, is perhaps the scenario’s set piece and its horror highlight, more than any other in the scenario, promising a night of bloody terror and nightmarish dread.

Despite these highlights, The Gift is not wholly satisfying as an adventure. Its central villain seems wasted, and its conclusion fails to answer any questions that the events of the adventure have raised and despite a final confrontation with the adventure’s villain, just seems to fizzle out. In addition, the adventure leaves it up to the GM to address the motivations of the individual player characters, The Gift not only suggesting several, but also working them into the four pre-generated adventurers that the adventure comes with.

In addition to the pre-generated adventurers, The Gift also comes with an array of Kaidanese monsters, a glossary, and an explanation of Kaidan’s cosmology. The latter is definitely different and it certainly figures in the course of the trilogy.

Physically, Curse of the Golden Spear: Part 1 – The Gift is neatly presented in full colour. The artwork is variable in quality, with some of its feeling a bit too randomly Japanese. It is a pity that not all of it is in colour though. The maps are decent though, but in places a little too large given the amount of information that they have to impart. Overall, the contents feel a little stretched over the course of the book’s sixty-four pages.

One of the reasons for examining The Gift was to see if it was in any way compatible with Alderac Entertainment Group’s Legends of the Five Rings and its setting of Rokugan. Although Kaidan and Rokugan share similar sources, the differences between the two are many, not least of which are the differences in their cosmologies and their effects on their respective settings, and their respective attitudes towards gaijin. Indeed, the presence of gaijin on the Emerald Empire’s soil has only been acceptable during very short periods in Rokugan’s history. Of course, the acceptance, even if only grudgingly, of gaijin on Kaidanese soil is the exact reason why The Gift works as a scenario. Nevertheless, there are scenes in The Gift that would make for interesting encounters in a Legends of the Five Ringscampaign.

There is no doubt that the author of The Gift imparts the cultural differences between the oriental fantasy of Kaidan and the occidental fantasy of standard Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Another pleasing aspect of the setting is that Kaidan’s isolation makes it easy to slot in a campaign of the GM’s own devising, and thus would make for an interesting and perhaps lengthy excursion for a traditional Dungeons & Dragonsstyle party. Although, moments on the journey are more interesting and more exciting than the journey itself, Curse of the Golden Spear: Part 1 – The Gift is a solid start to the trilogy.

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Your Rokugani Primer

Emerald Empire is the second supplement to be released for Alderac Entertainment Group’s Legends of the Five Rings Fourth Edition Roleplaying Game. It replaces one of the most sought after supplements for the third edition of the RPG, also of the same name. What it sets out to provide is an extensive guide to Rokugan, the setting for Legends of the Five Rings, expanding upon the information given in the core rulebook. Over the course of eleven chapters and two appendices, it explores and details first Rokugan’s physical geography, and second, various aspects of Rokugani culture. These includes its customs and social structure, its politics and arts, how it maintains law and order, its religion, how it educates its people, its attitudes towards money and how it conducts commerce, how it goes to war, and its attitude towards and what it knows about the various Gaijin peoples beyond its borders. It not only goes into depth about these aspects with regard to Rokugan as a whole, but also Clan by Clan, including not only the eight major Clans, but also some of the minor ones too.

Essentially then, what we have in Emerald Empire is a series of lengthy essays. Just as with other supplements for Legends of the Five Rings, each chapter is preceded by a piece of short fiction that illuminates the contents to come. In this case, it follows the education of a student of Clan Scorpion at his dojo as he discusses each of the chapter’s subjects with his sensei. It is very enjoyable flavour text, and although what follows is more informative and much drier in tone, it is rarely less than useful. Alongside the main text, sidebars explore other aspects of a subject being discussed. For example, the section on law in Rokugan that discusses the usual Rokugani reliance upon testimony during criminal investigations is accompanied by a sidebar that examines the method of relying upon evidence employed by the Kitsuki family of the Dragon Clan. Throughout the volume, regular sections illuminate aspects of the Imperial Histories, such as how the first Emperor came to choose his wife, how the minor clan known as the Fox came into existence and who for example, has owned Ryoko Owari, the City of Lies, throughout its long history. Other sidebars provide adventure seeds – though these are few and far between; excerpts from noted works; monastic ranks; and many other elements of the setting.

For all of its background information, Emerald Empire does not ignore the mechanical aspects of Legends of the Five Rings. Rounding out most of the chapters are new mechanics to add to a GM’s game. These include new basic schools such as the Shinjo Bushi school for the family that once ruled the Unicorn Clan and the very practical Ikoma Lion’s Shadow Bushi school; new Advanced Schools like the Bushi Minor Clan Defender and the Courtier Imperial Scion; and Play-Aids such as tables that allow “Random Events at Court” or “Random Dojo Events” to be rolled for. Not all of these are new of course, but rather they are new for the Fourth Edition of Legends of the Five Rings.

Rounding out Emerald Empire is a pair of appendices. The first of these is an expanded glossary, one that replaces that included in the core rulebook. The second appendix provides a set of new rules for player characters taking on important stations such as Governor, Merchant Patron, or Warlord. Once a character has been appointed to one of these positions, he can begin to grow into the role and to call in favours and make improvements to all that comes with the new position. Thus, an Ambassador will gain Iron Will and be able to endure the turbulent arguments that go with court life, whilst a Governor can improve the Accommodations, Defences, Monuments, and other features of the area that he administers. In game terms, these improvements and advantages are known as Features and must be purchased using Duty Points granted by the new advantages, The World of the Daimyo and The Daimyo’s Path.

All six of these higher station roles are accompanied with new optional mechanics of their own. For example, the Court Battle System allows an Ambassador to engage in the battle of wits regularly engaged in at court, much like skirmish rules given the core rulebook. Similarly, a Keeper of the Temple can create new spells and kiho, Master Sensei can create new kata, and with the Army Battle System, a Warlord can command larger and larger units of troops, using them in conjunction with the Mass Combat rules in the core rulebook.

In places, these new rules do feel a little brief and also left undiscussed. There is certainly enough information for a GM to take this game to a new level, and he should be able to extract numerous roleplaying challenges from these rules. Yet, what advice there is, feels all too brief, and there is quite possibly a whole new supplement to be got out of this aspect of the game. As welcome as these new rules are, they do feel disappointingly slight when compared to the rest of the book, but then the rest of the book more than compensates for this relatively slight disappointment.

Physically, Emerald Empire is another stunning looking book, in keeping with the rest of the line. The layout is clean, tidy, and attractive, and the artwork, which is excellent throughout, never feels less than appropriate.

There is so much to be got out of Emerald Empire. Its pages flow with detail and flavour, and it does not matter in what period a GM’s game is set nor what the players prefer in terms of Clan, there will be something in the supplement of use to them. For example, adherents of the Mantis Clan will appreciate the chapter devoted to commerce, the Crane Clan the chapters on court and the arts, and the Crab and Lion Clans the chapter on war. It is also easy to extract details and bring them into a game. For example, in our Lion Clan game, I not only read up on the Clan’s birth customs, but also Crane marriage customs for a scenario I wrote. Each of these selections nicely complements the further content given in the game fourth supplement, Great Clans.

Emerald Empire is superb supplement. Its contents are incredibly useful and can add so much to a campaign. Whether that is in the form of an idea for a scenario or for a whole campaign, or in the form of a small detail that will help bring a game to life, the supplement is a wealth of information. It also helps with another aspect of the game, the fact that Legends of the Five Rings is a culture game, and the details contained in Emerald Empire do support this. This makes Emerald Empire, along with Enemies of the Empire, the two key supplements to purchase after Legends of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game. Above all, Emerald Empire brims with detail and flavour that will help a GM being Rokugan to life and give a player a greater knowledge into which immerse his character.

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