Naked Steel
What’s Up with the Column?
For those of you who may not be familiar with the game, the L5R RPG is based on the setting of Rokugan, originally created for the L5R CCG. The CCG is known for the involvement of the fans in determining the ongoing story and plotline of the setting, and for surviving fifteen years to tell new stories with each new arc. Until the recent release of the 4th Edition of our RPG, those same stories have been tied to the role-playing aspect of the brand as well. The new edition has been a radical departure in that regard, however, as one of our design principles for this edition was to separate the metaplot from the game so that it could be used by anyone to play any version of Rokugan they wanted, rather than just the Rokugan one sees when playing the CCG.
What’s the point of this all? The point is that if the L5R CCG is known as the interactive storyline card game, then what we would like is to see the L5R RPG become the interactive design role-playing game. We would like to afford you, the readers and fans, the opportunity not only to see exactly what we’re doing as we develop these new books, but to give you the chance to offer feedback and participate in a limited capacity in the design process. We want you to be part of the Design Team! Since the new edition came out we’ve been saying that L5R 4th Edition is “L5R Your Way,” but now it’s time to really make it a reality, and we’re excited to have you on board with us.
However, before we can get into exactly what we are working on for our current project, I should bring you up to speed on the projects that are already in the pipeline for release this fall. You can’t know where we’re going if you don’t know where we’ve been, right?
The Great Clans
The first item in the pipeline, one that you will be seeing very shortly, is The Great Clans. Now, while I’m sure the name is somewhat ambiguous to some of you, let me assure you that the contents of this book are indeed all about the Great Clans of Rokugan, from the burly Crab to the sophisticated Crane and everything in between. The prevailing philosophy for this book was to ensure that all families in all Great Clans had ample representation in the mechanical aspect of the game. Nothing stinks worse than being unable to make a character of your preferred family or School in a new edition. So the first stage of this process was to look at the history of the game and find the Schools that were not yet represented in the game. Not only that, but we also were careful to look at what fans of the game were saying about what themes and aspects of the game they felt were missing so that we could address those as well. The end result is a book that is rife with old favorites as well as completely new material.
The previews that are out there right now include the Kuni Witch Hunter and Asako Henshin, two very highly requested Schools, but new information as well; the next issue of the Imperial Herald will introduce everyone to the Daidoji Scouts, a re-imagining of the themes present in the Daidoji that do not verge into the dishonorable territory of the infamous Harriers (more on those guys later!). Additionally, as you’ve probably read when we’ve talked about our design philosophies in other avenues, we examined existing mechanics to determine whether or not they warranted status as a full School or whether they should be recreated as Alternate Paths or Advanced Schools. You’ll definitely see some old favorites coming back into action with Great Clans that aren’t quite what you remember, but I hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised. In our next installment, I’ll keep you abreast of developments by showing you some of the as-yet-unrevealed mechanics and discussing how they were designed.
The Imperial Histories
Once Great Clans is on the shelves, the next thing out of the pipeline is the Imperial Histories. You may have heard about this one, as we held a contest that allowed fans to submit ideas for chapters. A couple of the folks who submitted entries ended up working on the book, including Jason Bianchi. Jason’s chapter on a previously unexplored period of Rokugan’s history, one characterized by terrible famine, is just one example contained in the book of how you can take the new edition and make whatever you want out of it. The book is chock full of mechanics as well, because we didn’t want it to be just a GM book (let’s be honest, those don’t sell well!). The Harriers I mentioned earlier? They show up here as an Advanced School.
The philosophy of design on this book was more specialized. In each chapter, we wanted to introduce mechanics that not only supported the themes and feel of the era depicted in that chapter, but which could be applied to different eras as well. With a few exceptions, the mechanics found throughout the entire book can be used in almost any campaign with little to no modification. The different mechanics are meant to serve as a way to drive home how an L5R 4th Edition game is a partnership between the GM and the players. Even if your campaign was set in a modern era, by working with your GM you could very easily find a means of incorporating the concepts, mechanics, and stories from Imperial Histories into your character’s background. And really, isn’t telling your own story what an L5R game is all about? Like Great Clans, in our next column I’ll give you a preview of what you can expect from Imperial Histories, and we’ll talk about how it was created and what kind of thought went into the process.
…And Beyond!
So those are the two books that are already coming down the line. After that, however, we have the Book of Air, the first in a new series of sourcebooks all based on the themes and ideas of the five rings that are so important to the concept of L5R. The Book of Air is going to apply to all aspects of the Air Ring, with a particular emphasis on courtly mechanics as well as other Air-dependant concepts such as archery, dueling, and of course plenty of examination of Air-themed Kata, Kiho, and spells. These books are going to have something for every type of character, including bushi, shugenja, courtiers, monks, and others. What really excites me about introducing the discussion of the Book of Air to you in this column, however, is that we’re expecting the drafts from freelancers to start arriving at the first of July, at which point the design for mechanics to accompany that material will begin by the Design Team. This column will explore the real-time development of mechanics, from their first conception through the playtest process and eventually to print in the book itself. And we want your help with that! We want your feedback on how you feel about ideas we are pursuing, on how those ideas are transformed from a rough concept into a functional mechanic, and how those mechanics are shaped through the playtest process to become viable options for you, the players of the game. Through this column, we are essentially promoting all of you who read this to the position of honorary designers and playtesters.
I’m incredibly excited about this. I’m excited about the transparency we’re adopting in order to allow you to see exactly what we’re doing. And I’m even more excited to see what you bring to the table. A game’s most important resource is its fans, and it only makes sense that you have the opportunity to impact your game in the same way that our CCG players have been able to impact that game for the past fifteen years.
We have a lot of catching up to do. Meet me back here in two weeks and let’s get started!
