Hello everyone! We’re rocking and rolling into the new year, and I have an exciting announcement to make to you guys a little bit later in the column. I’m hoping you guys will want to discuss it, either here or over at the AEG forums. I’m eager to talk about it. But first, let’s talk about a few other things.

First off, with the way the schedule is working right now, it’s getting harder for me to mine preview material for you guys without hitting the same products over and over again, and it worries me that I’m spoiling a bit too much of the material. Don’t get me wrong, I love talking about the design behind the mechanics and I’m always excited to see what you guys have to say about it, but I don’t want to spoil that great feeling you get when you first buy a new book and leaf through it to see what’s there. So, because of that, I think I’ll dial the column back to monthly instead of the (theoretically) once every two weeks that it’s supposed to go up now. Please do not be alarmed!

Now let’s look at a few books that are in the works!

The Imperial Histories

The release of this book is mere weeks away! Possibly less! I’m not really one hundred percent sure about the date but I know it’s in January! Anyway, for the past few months we’ve been looking at the various mechanics for this book and talking about what went into designing them, and I think by now you have a pretty good idea of what sort of thing you can expect to see from it, and exactly where we were when we crafted it for you. I hope you will agree that it’s going to be something pretty different from previous offerings, and I can’t wait to see the kind of things you have to make with this toolkit.

As you recall, I am working on a web supplement for this product that will present as a setting the onset of Emperor Edition, the upcoming release for the CCG. I don’t want to reveal too many secrets just yet, but I will tell you that there’s a pretty robust timeline, an excerpt of which might look a little something like this:

Year 1198: Significant events taking place in this year include:

• During the early summer, a number of prominent members of Rokugan’s older generation disappear under mysterious circumstances, including Akasha and Mirumoto Mareshi, both parents of their respective clans’ Champions, and Hida Fubatsu, a legendary sensei and blacksmith serving the Crab. Unknown to the Empire, these events are coordinated by the nameless entity known as the Dark Naga, who is attempting to purge all vestiges of the Naga race’s association with humans while simultaneously destabilizing the Empire in preparation for his attack.
• The Dark Naga’s plans escalate with more direct attacks, including the destruction of the Shinomen Tower, the holding from which the Unicorn monitor activity within the Shinomen Mori, and the assassination of the Imperial Governor of the Colonies within the Second City. When word reaches the Empire of his death weeks later, the clans immediately begin jockeying for position in an attempt to secure the extremely powerful position.
• Conflict between the forces of the Dark Naga and those of the Empire begin around the fringes of controlled territory, with the Mantis Clan on the open sea and with the Spider Clan in the most remote sections of the unexplored jungle in the Colonies.

Additionally, there’s an assortment of NPCs, including one per clan, and an update on the general status for each clan as well as an assessment of their relationships with other clans. An example might be something like this:

The Mantis The Mantis Clan is in a uniquely powerful position during the Age of Exploration. They control every water route to and from the Colonies as well as every port located there. Due to a long-standing agreement between the two clans, they allow the Crab to travel along their routes unmolested, but others are generally not welcome and have no choice but to depend upon the Mantis for transport if a sea route is required. The massive resources the clan has gathered during the two decades of exploration in the Colonies has elevated them to the lofty position of wealthiest Great Clan, something none of the other clans could reasonably dispute even if they wished to do so. Although they charge an appreciable fee, the Mantis also transport enormous quantities of resources back to the Empire for the other clans as well, and for that reason they are considered necessary allies by virtually everyone.

The exceptions to the Mantis’ position as frequent allies are with the Crane and Lion clans. The Crane control the only major city along the major river that connects the Second City’s province in the north with the Mantis coast. Although they are as yet merely arguments, the disagreements between the two clans over shipping and tariffs in the city have become more heated in recent months, leading some to speculate that a trade war may be imminent. Likewise the aforementioned conflict between the Champions of the Lion and Mantis simmers underneath a thin veneer of courtesy, as both resent the other for the sins of their fathers.

And that’s where we are with Imperial Histories! By the time you read the next one of these columns, you’ll have a copy in hand!

Strongholds

The post-writing development of Strongholds continues! I don’t have an estimate on its arrival for you, but hopefully before too long you’ll be able to get your first exclusive downloadable sourcebook for the L5R RPG. That’s pretty exciting for me personally. I don’t want to spoil any more mechanics, but here’s an excerpt from one of the chapters, this one on Clear Water Village in the Crab lands. As you can see, we have a lot of NPC offerings in each chapter, which can serve as Allies or Sworn Enemies for your PCs! We want you to take these areas and make them part of your campaign, serving as background for your character in whatever manner works best for you!

Yasuki Sumiko, Influential Merchant Patron
Air: 3, Earth: 2, Fire: 3, Water: 2, Void: 4
Willpower 3, Perception 3

School/Rank: Yasuki Courtier 3
Honor: 1.6
Glory: 3.7
Status: 3.0
Advantages: Clear Water Native, Clear Thinker, Wealthy (8pts)
Disadvantages: Insensitive, Overconfident
Skills: Calligraphy 1, Craft: Fishing 1, Commerce (Appraisal) 5, Courtier 3, Defense 3, Etiquette 3, Investigation 4, Intimidation 3, Lore: Heraldry 3, Lore: History 3, Lore: Crab Clan 2, Lore: Pearls 1, Sincerity (Deceit) 5, Temptation (Bribery) 5

Yasuki Sumiko is not a bitter woman, but she feels strongly that each person is suited to a certain task in life. For the Hida, that task is undoubtedly fighting. For the Yasuki, it is making money.

Because of this, she feels that Clear Water Village, a trading port and place of commerce, should have a Yasuki governor. If the Crane come, surely the walls will hold them as they did before, and in the meantime the city needs proper governance and administration. She does not dislike Hida Matsuro – in fact, she respects him greatly. Sumiko simply feels he is not the best man for the position, and is inadvertently damaging the Crab by not maximizing the revenue that could be earned from the merchant activities in Clear Water.

If one were to ask Sumiko who she would see in the position instead, she would of course choose herself. Not out of pride, she would insist, but for sheer ability.

These thoughts do not prevent Sumiko from performing her duties, however. She is a loyal Crab and does her best for the clan.

Her most recent project began two years ago, growing out of an inquiry on how pearls were formed. The Kuni told Sumiko they believed they were created when a piece of grit or other foreign object got inside an oyster shell. Sumiko immediately bought up several local oyster beds and hired local divers to be her farmers. She has been experimenting ever since with stimulating oyster to produce pearls. At first the results were discouraging, but now she is beginning to see returns from the project. Should Sumiko succeed in coming up with a practical way to culture pearls, she will greatly increase the wealth of the Crab. And with such success, Sumiko feels, the governorship of Clear Water should at last be hers.

Strongholds! We’ve been sitting on this book forever. I can’t wait to share it with you.

The Secret Project

Okay. I think it’s time we talk a little bit more about the Secret Project I talked about the first time a few installments ago. Last summer, the staff at AEG had a summit at the offices out on the West Coast, and we talked about the RPG. We all agreed that 4th Edition was right where we wanted to be in terms of the quality of product we wanted to offer to the fans, but we also agreed that there are a lot of barriers to gaining entry into the L5R RPG. I mean, let’s face it, Rokugan is not like your other setting out there. It’s pretty complicated and hard for new people to get the hang of! It can be very intimidating for new players to get into, and that says nothing of the difficulties if you’re a new GM who’s not familiar with the setting. Honestly, I can completely understand how someone interested in the game might be so daunted that they decide to go with something else. So, the question raised at the summit was this: how can we overcome that?

Well, we have an answer. Later this year, we will be releasing a boxed set for the L5R RPG. It’s the first boxed set we’ve released since Otosan Uchi all those years ago. What is contained within, you might ask? Well, let me tell you! There’s an entire city carefully detailed in such a way as to provide any number of options for GMs and players. There are new mechanics, dozens of NPCs included with carefully constructed webs of interaction that GMs and players can make use of, or that they can throw out and construct entirely new ones. To assist in the creation of stories involving your players and the various NPCs, we have some unique character aids and play accessories that will help your campaign flow along. Oh! And there’s an entire campaign included for you. An ENTIRE campaign. As in, your characters can start as beginning level samurai and progress from virtual unknowns to powerful masters of court, war, and magic. This set is designed to be literally everything you need to play a campaign. You have a core book, but you don’t know what to do? No problem! Grab one of these things and you’re set for months or even years of play, hopefully with you and your players enjoying every minute spent around the table, crafting your own legend in Legend of the Five Rings.

What’s the setting like, you ask? Oh, we’ll talk more about that one later. ☺

Until next time!