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This is the fifth clan books for Legend of the Five Rings. Like the first, Way of the Dragon, it was written by John Wick, who bucks gaming industry tradition by actually revealing the deep secrets of the clan in the book that claims to do that.

The Way of the Scorpion follows the usual clan book format. There are five chapters and five appendices. These show what the Scorpions think of the rest of Rokugan, describe important members of the clan, provide character templates and descriptions of new families, backgrounds, skills, and schools, including schools for characters who are neither bushi nor shugenja.

The first half of the book provides a fascinating look at the Scorpion mind, showing how the Scorpions fit into a society that fears and despises them, and what they have to offer this society. Oddly enough, the clan perceived to be most treacherous places the highest value on loyalty. As usual, the background tables are customized, and for a Scorpion, it is more beneficial to have a dishonorable background than to have a distinguished one.

One of my usual playtesters expressed a complete lack of interest in playing a Scorpion, explaining that in a typical group of PCs, everyone will gang up on the Scorpion. Fortunately, in the second half of the book, there is an appendix explaining what a player of a Scorpion PC can do about this, and why the PCs should know better than to pick on Scorpions. My playtester now wants to drop her Unicorn PC and play a scorpion Right Now.

Next comes the truth (or is it?) about the ninja, along with ideas for a ninja campaign. This is followed by an appendix discussing magical items and poison. Note that the section on poison does not duplicate the information in Honor's Veil, nor is it necessary to have that information to use the section on poisons here. The section on magic includes material on shadow brands, explaining how much it costs to create them. Characters with shadow brands get to keep extra dice on actions taken in dim light. However, the text for the sample character who has a shadow brand indicates that such brands have other powers as well, although such powers are not defined in the book.

Next comes a description of important sites in the Scorpion lands, more background on geisha, and the rules for gambling with dice. This is followed by a section on creating Scorpion decks for the L5R CCG, a detailed map of Bayushi Castle which supplements the text nicely, and two blank character sheets.

The art continues to be of high quality. Perhaps a bit more flesh is seen than usual for Rokugan, but this is appropriate in context and it is not overdone. No one is improperly dressed.

The Way of the Scorpion suffers from the same problems that affect the other clan books: There is no index, nor any map of the Scorpion lands. There are advantages and skills listed here which really should be in the main book. The two pages of suggestions for building Scorpion decks for the L5R CCG are useless to those who are just interesting in the role-playing game.

As with Way of the Dragon, Way of the Scorpion delivers what it promises. It is not without flaws, but it is well worth the cover price.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Way of the Scorpion
Author: by John Wick with additional material by Ree Soesbee, D. J. Trindle, Patrick Kapera, David Williams, and Jennifer Mahr Category: game Company/Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group Cost: 14.95 Page count: 120 Playtest Review by Lisa Padol on 10/27/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Asian/Far_East	This is the fifth clan books for Legend of the Five Rings. Like the first, Way of the Dragon, it was written by John Wick, who bucks gaming industry tradition by actually revealing the deep secrets of the clan in the book that claims to do that. The Way of the Scorpion follows the usual clan book format. There are five chapters and five appendices. These show what the Scorpions think of the rest of Rokugan, describe important members of the clan, provide character templates and descriptions of new families, backgrounds, skills, and schools, including schools for characters who are neither bushi nor shugenja. The first half of the book provides a fascinating look at the Scorpion mind, showing how the Scorpions fit into a society that fears and despises them, and what they have to offer this society. Oddly enough, the clan perceived to be most treacherous places the highest value on loyalty. As usual, the background tables are customized, and for a Scorpion, it is more beneficial to have a dishonorable background than to have a distinguished one. One of my usual playtesters expressed a complete lack of interest in playing a Scorpion, explaining that in a typical group of PCs, everyone will gang up on the Scorpion. Fortunately, in the second half of the book, there is an appendix explaining what a player of a Scorpion PC can do about this, and why the PCs should know better than to pick on Scorpions. My playtester now wants to drop her Unicorn PC and play a scorpion Right Now. Next comes the truth (or is it?) about the ninja, along with ideas for a ninja campaign. This is followed by an appendix discussing magical items and poison. Note that the section on poison does not duplicate the information in Honor's Veil, nor is it necessary to have that information to use the section on poisons here. The section on magic includes material on shadow brands, explaining how much it costs to create them. Characters with shadow brands get to keep extra dice on actions taken in dim light. However, the text for the sample character who has a shadow brand indicates that such brands have other powers as well, although such powers are not defined in the book. Next comes a description of important sites in the Scorpion lands, more background on geisha, and the rules for gambling with dice. This is followed by a section on creating Scorpion decks for the L5R CCG, a detailed map of Bayushi Castle which supplements the text nicely, and two blank character sheets. The art continues to be of high quality. Perhaps a bit more flesh is seen than usual for Rokugan, but this is appropriate in context and it is not overdone. No one is improperly dressed. The Way of the Scorpion suffers from the same problems that affect the other clan books: There is no index, nor any map of the Scorpion lands. There are advantages and skills listed here which really should be in the main book. The two pages of suggestions for building Scorpion decks for the L5R CCG are useless to those who are just interesting in the role-playing game. As with Way of the Dragon, Way of the Scorpion delivers what it promises. It is not without flaws, but it is well worth the cover price. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)