Hello again, everyone!

If you’ve been following the column, you know that every installment we examine some bits and pieces from the next two books in our release schedule for the L5R RPG, the first of which is Imperial Histories, which should be winging your way sometime in the next couple of months, barring any catastrophic printing problems (which, hey, you never know). Because of that, the previews for that particular book will probably dwindle over the next couple of months, just because we need to preserve a little bit of mystery. I really enjoy sharing some of what will be included with you and talking about how we designed it, but you can’t see all the goodies before it goes live.

So far, we’ve seen previews from a wide variety of clans and chapters. I’m going to try and make sure that we get a little something from every chapter, and today we’re going to visit one of the ones I think is the most deserved in the book. To be honest, I think it probably deserves an entire book devoted to it alone. One of my fellow designers, Rob Hobart, got his start as the author and administrator of the Heroes of Rokugan living campaign, perhaps the single most impressive example of taking a campaign setting and making it your own that I have ever experienced in my entire career. I’m a huge fan, and including a chapter on the Heroes of Rokugan setting, a setting shaped by the actions of hundreds of fans over the past years, was the easiest decision I’ve ever had to make in the course of working on this game. I’m thrilled to present you with a little taste of what to expect from the chapter, written by the man himself, Rob Hobart.

Rokugan in the Year 1500
The main Heroes of Rokugan storyline begins in the year 1500. The Empire stands at a turning point. Miya Shikan’s enforced peace has allowed dangerous tensions to build up between almost all the clans, while the burgeoning trade with the gaijin is undermining Rokugan’s moral and social structures. The corrupting influences of prolonged peace and social transformation have given rise to ambitious lords who have abandoned honor: the warlords Moto Temujin and Akodo Gintaku both dream of seizing the Throne for themselves, while the conspiring old men Shosuro Hido, Yoritomo Ogawa, and the gaijin ambassador Sven Oldarsson plot to put a puppet Emperor on that same Throne. Meanwhile, Miya Shikan’s obsession with maintaining “peace at all costs” has driven him over the edge into madness and treason: he has launched a series of assassinations against militarist daimyo and is plotting to make himself into a khadi, allowing him to maintain peace over Rokugan… forever.

By contrast, the authorities who are supposed to hold Rokugan together are weak, corrupt, and divided. The Emperor has never recovered from the discovery of his wife’s infidelity and takes no action to maintain stability in the Empire, preferring to live within the cocoon of his sadness. Many of the other Clan Champions and daimyo are flawed individuals, lost in sinful excess or personal ambitions.

All these failings and evils within the mortal world have metaphysical consequences as well. The decline of Honor and the tremendous growth of greed, corruption, and sin has created a severe imbalance within the Celestial realm. The Obsidian Moon, the Dragon of Sin, has become so powerful that he has literally gone mad, intervening in the mortal realm in random and destructive ways. Conversely, the Jade Sun, the Dragon of Virtue, has become so weak that she will soon become vulnerable to death at mortal hands.

If you’re on the outside looking in like me, and the fact that I never got to participate in Rob’s run with Heroes of Rokugan is one of the only genuine regrets I have from my many years of working in this industry, the mere ideas of what they’re suggesting here set your mind ablaze with ideas for characters and plotlines, and a campaign just erupts out of nowhere before you know what’s going on. It’s fantastic! And just in case that wasn’t quite enough to whet your appetite, how’s about this delightful little NPC, who just oozes style and flavor.

Akodo Gintaku, Akodo Family Daimyo
The Steel Lion is a man of dire emotions and sinister motivations, concealed beneath a surface of iron self-control and icy hostility. From his childhood he has been consumed with an implacable lust for power and control, but in contrast to his rival Moto Temujin he has never allowed that desire to control him; instead he has conquered it and used it as a source of power. Gintaku is, at the most basic level, a sociopath. To him other people – even his own blood kin – are merely tools to be used, controlled, and discarded as necessary. He does not acknowledge honor or duty at all, except insofar as he recognizes other people are motivated by such values.

All that being said, it cannot be denied that Gintaku possesses a chilly but compelling charisma. During his youth he attracts several dedicated followers, the men who call themselves his “anniki” (brothers), and he continues to recruit additional followers throughout his life, including major figures like the Ikoma family daimyo. Perhaps it is simply Gintaku’s absolute ruthlessness that attracts their devotion, or perhaps they allow themselves to see more in him than is really there; regardless, the anniki play major roles in Gintaku’s campaign to take control of the clan.

Gintaku is highly intelligent and a brilliant commander, and several times crushes powerful enemy armies. However, what truly makes the Steel Lion such a terrible threat is that he recognizes no moral limit or constraint on his goals and actions. To Gintaku, sacrificing one of his own loyal followers is more than worth the price to gain the allegiance of Moto Yoshi. Slaughtering an entire Lion army and murdering his own eldest son are easy prices to pay if it gains him the fealty of the Shadowlands Horde and the power of the Jade Dragon. For that matter, Gintaku feels no hesitation at killing the Jade Dragon itself, an act which most Rokugani would view as the most appalling blasphemy. To him, the very ruler of the Celestial Heavens is just one more asset to use.

The stats here depict the Steel Lion in his mortal form as Akodo family daimyo, before he usurped rule of the clan and before he stole and absorbed the Jade Dragon’s power.

Akodo Gintaku, the Steel Lion, Murderer of Jade
Air: 4, Earth: 5, Fire: 6, Water: 4, Void: 5
Reflexes 7 , Agility 7, Strength 5

Honor: 0.5
Glory: 6.8
Status: 7.0
School/Rank: Akodo Bushi 5/Akodo Tactical Master 3
Skills: Athletics 4, Battle (Mass Combat) 8, Courtier 2, Defense 6, Etiquette 3, Horsemanship 3, Iaijutsu 6, Intimidation (Control) 6, Jiujutsu 3, Kenjutsu (Katana, Wakizashi) 9, Knives 5, Kyujutsu 4, Lore: Heraldry 4, Lore: History 3, Lore: Theology 2, Spears 4, Stealth 2, War Fan 6
Kata:
Advantages: Allies (many), Apparent Honor (3 Ranks), Leadership, Social Position (Akodo family daimyo), Tactician
Disadvantages: Dark Secrets (many), Driven (to gain power), Heartless

The Book of Air

And here we are, back to the main event. I’ve had a lot of projects going on lately, so I haven’t been able to devote quite as much time as I would like to putting this book to bed. As a result, I’ve still been working on Kiho for most of the time since the last installment. Ergo, I’ll be sharing some more monk goodness with you this time. I prefer to change things up a bit when possible, and hopefully by the time the next column rolls around I will have already finished this and moved through the shugenja as well. I actually am working a bit on some delightful dueling options for the Scorpion as well as a variety of shugenja ideas already, but they’re not ready for public scrutiny just yet. I mean come on, a guy’s got to have standards. I wouldn’t subject you guys to these just yet!

Last time I think we looked at Internal Kiho. Since then I’ve managed to wrap up the Mystical as well, and by far those are the most fun. I mean, with most of them you have to skirt the edges of supernatural without going too far over the edge. With the Mystical Kiho, though? You can get let the beast out of the cage and let it run rampant through downtown Tokyo. Which is fun! So let’s see what we came up with.

New Kiho: Strike through the Wind

• Ring/Mastery: Air 5
• Type: Mystical

Most mortal souls never give a moment’s consideration to the air that they breathe or move through almost every second of their physical existence. The notion that air can contain force or become as hard as steel is something that they never even consider. Some monks are able to transmit force through the air as if it were an extension of their body. You may channel the force of your blows through the air, striking targets at range as if they were at arm’s length. You may spend a Void Point to activate this Kiho as a Free Action. When this Kiho is active, you may make melee attacks as a Complex Action, and your melee attacks may target opponents as far away as your School Rank x 25 feet.

This one I like because, quite frankly, it strikes me as a very Street Fighter kind of maneuver, and it adds an element of cool supernatural without overpowering the monk in question. It does permit the monk to attack at range, but in no way enhances the strike itself. Presumably this will be combined with other Kiho, predominantly Martial, which may allow for unbalanced effects, but playtesting is presently working on that so we’ll see what comes up. Maybe you guys can find it before they do!

Well, I don’t want to be stingy, and since last time I gave you a Kiho that was recycled from an idea for an additional ise zumi tattoo, it seems only fitting that I share an actual tattoo with you. So how about this one?

Whisper: This very rare tattoo usually takes the form of a person turned aside, hand held to the mouth as if silencing someone or as if masking something being said. When invoked, this tattoo allows those who bear it to send brief, silent messages over longer distances than would normally be possible. When this tattoo is active, as a Complex Action you may send a whispered message to anyone within a number of miles equal to ten times your School Rank. You cannot receive messages from the target unless they share the same tattoo or some other means of transmitting such information, but they can hear you as if you were whispering in their ear.

So there you go, a Kiho and a tattoo all at once. It’s like we’re celebrating a new holiday in here. Merry Monkmas everyone! I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.