Hello, all. To all my fellow celebrants out there, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. And to everyone else, have a wonderful whatever-it-is-you-are-having! Let’s see what’s new and wonderful in the world of L5R, shall we?

The Book of Earth

The Book of Earth is out! I hope you all have a chance to look and see how the feedback you have offered through this column has shaped its development, and how it is different from the Book of Air based on your comments.

Imperial Histories, Volume 2

Unfortunately we have experienced some delays in the post-production of IH2, and as a result we are running behind. It is in layout as we speak, and Robert Denton is working his usual brand of sorcery to make it look amazing. In the meantime, I thought I would share some tidbits with you concerning one of the most anticipated chapters in the book, the Reign of the Steel Chrysanthemum.

New Disadvantage: Member of the Chrysanthemum Court [Social] (5 points)
You are a regular attendee at the Emperor’s court, the vaunted Imperial Court of Rokugan. Under the reign of any other Emperor, this would be an incredible privilege and an opportunity for your family and clan to earn glory and make political alliances. Under the reign of the Steel Chrysanthemum, however, it is a constant danger to your life; one misspoken word and you and all those you hold dear could pay the ultimate price. Whenever you fail a Social Skill Roll in the Imperial Court, if you fail by an amount greater than 10 you permanently lose five Points of Status, plus one additional Point for every Raise you declared on the failed roll. If your Status ever drops to 0, the Emperor capriciously kills you for some imagined slight.

This Disadvantage may be used in other eras of play to depict the “privilege” of being assigned to a court ruled by a cruel, capricious, or corrupt lord. In this case the “die at 0 Status” aspect should be dropped, and the Experience Point value of the Disadvantage should be reduced to 3.

Chrysanthemum Conspirator
The reign of the Steel Chrysanthemum was one of the most heinous time periods of Rokugan’s history, and the excesses of the Emperor were such that he drove his own mother and brother – along with many other men and women of honor – to join together in secret to oppose him. The terrible crime of regicide, an act normally regarded as absolute blasphemy and among the greatest sins comprehensible in the Empire of Rokugan, became the only viable option.

Otomo Nazeru created the Technique of this group, but stopped teaching it to others the moment his older brother died. Nonetheless, it is possible the Technique might be preserved into later eras, or even recreated by a different group rebelling against a tyrant. (Timelines such as a Thousand Years of Darkness would be good settings for this Technique.)

New Alternate Path: Chrysanthemum Conspirator
Technique Rank: 2
Replaces: Any Bushi or Courtier School at Rank 2
Requirements: You must have the Disadvantage Dark Secret (Rebel) Technique: No Course but One – Those who conspire against the Steel Chrysanthemum place greater value on Honor than on social status or Imperial authority. You gain a Free Raise on any attack roll made against an opponent whose Status Rank exceeds their Honor Rank.

A lot of people have asked me about that last entry in the list of eras covered that I gave you guys back in column #20, which was simply titled [CLASSIFIED]. Well I am going to spoil that particular bit of information in this column… but not today. Suffice it to say, with the first volume of Imperial Histories, we had a couple of big name entries, namely the Thousand Years of Darkness and the Heroes of Rokugan chapters. With this one, we lack something with that same level of punch, and so I came up with something altogether different. The idea behind the chapter was to show exactly how much leeway the system gave a GM to play with his version of Rokugan, to create a sort of experiment in how far from the tree the apple might fall, so to speak. The entry is something quite different. You’ll either love it or hate it, and I’m guessing there won’t be a lot of room in the middle. I guess we’ll see next time!

The Book of Fire

Manuscripts for the Book of Fire are in, and mechanical design is underway! Given the time of year, of course, things are moving a bit slow, but if there’s one thing you can count on in this lifetime other than death and taxes, it’s Rob Hobart getting the job done! I submit to you a couple of very-much-fresh-and-unplaytested spells from the mind of the Hobart Himself.

Warning Flame
Ring/Mastery: Fire 1 (Battle)
Range: Touch
Area of Effect: One target person (may be caster)
Duration: 10 Rounds
Raises: Duration (+2 Rounds per Raise), Area of Effect (+1 person per 2 Raises)
Fire is the element of wit and intellect as well as the element of destruction. This spell excites the Fire kami within the mind, allowing the target to notice threats and react to them far more quickly than normally. For the duration of the spell, the target is immune to being surprised and gains a +1k1 bonus to Initiative.

Oath of the Heavens
Ring/Mastery: Fire 2
Range: Touch
Area of Effect: Two target persons (see description)
Duration: 5 Rounds
Raises: Duration (+1 Round per Raise), Special (+1k0 to the bonus per 2 Raises)

This spell was originally a secret spell of the Agasha family, and has sometimes been credited as being invented by Agasha herself during her rescue from goblins by Mirumoto Hojatsu. In modern times, both the Phoenix Clan Agasha and the Dragon Clan Tamori know the spell, although the Tamori use it far more often. The spell calls on the Fire kami to form a link between the ferocity of a bushi and the intellect of a shugenja, allowing both to work in concert to greater effect. The caster traditionally targets himself and one friendly bushi (usually, though not always, a yojimbo), although it is also possible for the caster to bestow the spell’s benefits on a different shugenja rather than himself.

For the duration of the spell, both recipients receive a +2k0 bonus to all rolls involving the Fire Ring and Fire Traits (e.g. all rolls involving Agility and Intelligence). However, the links also makes each recipient vulnerable to effects on the other – if either recipient becomes Fatigued, Dazed, or Stunned, the other immediately shares the same Condition. Moreover, if either recipient is reduced to Down, Out, or Dead, the spell’s effects immediately end.

Unexpected Allies, 4th Edition

I first mentioned this project in my last installment, and it’s been moving along nicely ever since. All the pertinent details have been posted to the main website at http://www.l5r.com and I’ve already received quite a few entries, enough so that I am optimistic that this will work out as a reasonably sized sourcebook.

There has been at least one instance since the announcement of someone accusing us of trying to get people to write a sourcebook for us. I wanted to address that briefly, but in all honesty I’m not really sure what to say. As the head of the Story Team, I have been responsible for allowing CCG players to have significant, repeated impact on the story of Rokugan for almost a decade. It is a sometimes rewarding and sometimes frustrating process, but one that is important to the soul of our game. The impetus behind this game is simply to grant the same rights to my old friends, the RPG community. I am not in any way attempting to exploit or take advantage of you, and I sincerely hope the majority of you reading this accept that simple truth.

I really look forward to seeing what the rest of you have up your sleeve for the contest.

Secrets of the Empire

First of all, as I believe I have mentioned to you on a previous occasion, this is only a working title and may well change before we get ready for post-production. Since this is what we’re presently calling it internally, though, and since transparency is the name of the game with this column, that’s what I’ll call it with you until we decide otherwise. Hey! Maybe once we talk a bit more about the content, one of you can help us figure out what a good name would be!

The purpose of Secrets of the Empire is to sort of encapsulate the various things that are as of yet undeveloped in 4th Edition, but which do not warrant a book of their own. The Minor Clans? They’ll be in there. The Imperial families? Yes. Ronin? Almost certainly. The Spirit Realms? Safe bet. What else might be in there? What other hidden secrets might linger in the distant corners of the Empire that need to be exposed to the light of day?

Well, why don’t you tell me?