The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Perhaps one of the most depressing things about the Merchant's Guide to Rokugan is that it raises deep, dark suspicions within me that I must surely be a deeply sad individual. After all, here AEG is - after a couple of 'cover pages' on Rokugani economics - offering me the low-down on the world-spanning conspiracy of the Kolat, dating back to the first days of humanity, whose patience is about to be rewarded with the fall of the imperial line of the Hantei and the beginning of a new age. And I'm thinking that I'd rather they stuck with the 'cover' and given me merchants and caravan masters…

One of the problems is that the Kolat have until now cropped up every now and then but always kept deep in the shadows. There was this conspiracy, they could be everywhere, they could strike any time, as likely by an assassin's knife or a slanderous whispering campaign. As a result, everyone had their own ideas, but their very mystery gave them much of their mystique. Taking them out of the shadows without losing that would inevitably have been a difficult and delicate task, but this book really doesn't come close.

While physically of the usual good AEG standard, the content is, to me, the weakest L5R RPG material to date. It is irritatingly badly proof-read and typeset. I flipped to a page at random to test this: take the second column on page 61: 'hadmore' appears as a word, it's where it should have been its, perpetuate when the writer clearly means perpetrate… OK, let's accept that I'm a tedious nit-picker, but (a) this is not what we are used to from AEG, who tend to have an extremely high standard, (b) this is a commercial product which should be prepared professionally (was this a rush job?) and perhaps most important, (c) it says something about the supplement that I notice and care about such trivia.

This is, after all, the whole point of fantasy stories and games: they are not realistic, but we should be prepared to accept them because of their charm, their flair or their innate fascination. There is, logically, nothing less 'credible' about the Kolat than, say, Oni demons or magically-tattooed Dragon Clan warriors. But the rest of the L5R world is painted well and carries conviction. This, though, is full of inconsistencies, often poorly-written and, frankly, padded out.

This is a small, elite conspiracy that stretches even beyond Rokugan, and has been around for thousands of years, but no-one knows about it. In a world of magic and conspiracy? Not one disenchanted double agent making it to an outsider? Not one drunk or feverish confession? No prophesies? No prying by inquisitive Kitsuki magistrates? In *thousands* of years? It is apparently driven by insights they gained from Shinsei's Tao and the philosophies of Rokugan…but also has a counterpart, the Qolat, in the decidedly non-Rokugani Burning Sands.

There is an inner council, the Ten Masters. There is a convenient gimmick, a crystal known as the Eye of the Oni, which allows them to spy on pretty much anyone and anything. There is a hidden headquarters. There are sleeper agents who do not even know they are Kolat tools until a key phrase triggers them. In fact, there is every cliché of the sub-James Bond movie, given a thin Rokugani veneer and then padded out and laden down with excess wordage and needless rationales.

So is this a complete waste of paper? By no means. First of all, appreciate that I think L5R RPG and its line to be the best thing to hit FRPGs for years, and that one of the line's key features has been the sheer quality of the ideas and writing behind it. In this context, the Merchant's Guide is a let-down. But that does not mean it is all terrible: there are nice ideas and characters here, which can be mined for a campaign, even if you don't use the whole conspiracy. There is an interesting twist on the Unicorn Clan, who prove to be more than the horse-loving country cousins most of the other clans believe. There are the (final?) stats for the Lion Clan sensei Akodo Kage, first of the Ten Masters and architect of the fall of the Hantei.

L5R addicts like myself will want the book just for the sake of completeness and those good ideas. Ultimately, though, the Kolat had been built up as such a mystery that I had expected something pretty special for 'the Kolat book'. In this respect, it is a disappointment.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Merchant's Guide to Rokugan
Author: Rob Vaux Category: game Company/Publisher: AEG Line: L5R RPG Cost: $19.95 Page count: 120 ISBN: 29220 30023 Playtest Review by Mark Galeotti on 05/03/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Conspiracy Asian/Far_East	Perhaps one of the most depressing things about the Merchant's Guide to Rokugan is that it raises deep, dark suspicions within me that I must surely be a deeply sad individual. After all, here AEG is - after a couple of 'cover pages' on Rokugani economics - offering me the low-down on the world-spanning conspiracy of the Kolat, dating back to the first days of humanity, whose patience is about to be rewarded with the fall of the imperial line of the Hantei and the beginning of a new age. And I'm thinking that I'd rather they stuck with the 'cover' and given me merchants and caravan masters… One of the problems is that the Kolat have until now cropped up every now and then but always kept deep in the shadows. There was this conspiracy, they could be everywhere, they could strike any time, as likely by an assassin's knife or a slanderous whispering campaign. As a result, everyone had their own ideas, but their very mystery gave them much of their mystique. Taking them out of the shadows without losing that would inevitably have been a difficult and delicate task, but this book really doesn't come close. While physically of the usual good AEG standard, the content is, to me, the weakest L5R RPG material to date. It is irritatingly badly proof-read and typeset. I flipped to a page at random to test this: take the second column on page 61: 'hadmore' appears as a word, it's where it should have been its, perpetuate when the writer clearly means perpetrate… OK, let's accept that I'm a tedious nit-picker, but (a) this is not what we are used to from AEG, who tend to have an extremely high standard, (b) this is a commercial product which should be prepared professionally (was this a rush job?) and perhaps most important, (c) it says something about the supplement that I notice and care about such trivia. This is, after all, the whole point of fantasy stories and games: they are not realistic, but we should be prepared to accept them because of their charm, their flair or their innate fascination. There is, logically, nothing less 'credible' about the Kolat than, say, Oni demons or magically-tattooed Dragon Clan warriors. But the rest of the L5R world is painted well and carries conviction. This, though, is full of inconsistencies, often poorly-written and, frankly, padded out. This is a small, elite conspiracy that stretches even beyond Rokugan, and has been around for thousands of years, but no-one knows about it. In a world of magic and conspiracy? Not one disenchanted double agent making it to an outsider? Not one drunk or feverish confession? No prophesies? No prying by inquisitive Kitsuki magistrates? In thousands of years? It is apparently driven by insights they gained from Shinsei's Tao and the philosophies of Rokugan…but also has a counterpart, the Qolat, in the decidedly non-Rokugani Burning Sands. There is an inner council, the Ten Masters. There is a convenient gimmick, a crystal known as the Eye of the Oni, which allows them to spy on pretty much anyone and anything. There is a hidden headquarters. There are sleeper agents who do not even know they are Kolat tools until a key phrase triggers them. In fact, there is every cliché of the sub-James Bond movie, given a thin Rokugani veneer and then padded out and laden down with excess wordage and needless rationales. So is this a complete waste of paper? By no means. First of all, appreciate that I think L5R RPG and its line to be the best thing to hit FRPGs for years, and that one of the line's key features has been the sheer quality of the ideas and writing behind it. In this context, the Merchant's Guide is a let-down. But that does not mean it is all terrible: there are nice ideas and characters here, which can be mined for a campaign, even if you don't use the whole conspiracy. There is an interesting twist on the Unicorn Clan, who prove to be more than the horse-loving country cousins most of the other clans believe. There are the (final?) stats for the Lion Clan sensei Akodo Kage, first of the Ten Masters and architect of the fall of the Hantei. L5R addicts like myself will want the book just for the sake of completeness and those good ideas. Ultimately, though, the Kolat had been built up as such a mystery that I had expected something pretty special for 'the Kolat book'. In this respect, it is a disappointment. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

The Merchant's Guide to Rokugan