The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The GM's Survival Guide is subtitled "1001 campaign hints, tips, and answers". I haven't counted them all yet but it has to be close to that number. This book makes the perfect companion piece to the main rules. It's even laid out like the main rulebook into five chapters.

The Book of Earth is an in depth examination of Rokugani society. This chapter covers everything and I mean everything from what people eat to what kind of houses they have (so it does have everything and the kitchen sink :-). This will probably be the most useful chapter for GM's by allow them to really flesh out the seating for the players.

Next is the Book of Water. This chapter details advanced character generation rules. For the most part this isn't all that useful for experienced gamers but it does contain a list of all the current skills advantages and disadvantages so it's an excellent quick reference for them with brief descriptions and their locations in various books.

The Book of Fire expands the combat rules giving options for the GM to slow down or speed up combat as well as expanding the descriptions of weapons. There is also more detail into formal duels. There are also some optional rules for honor and glory.

The book of air concerns itself with Game play but the best part of the chapter is the NPC section. It gives descriptions of NPC's as well as skills they would have and a quick generation method. The worst part of the chapter is also what I feel is the worst part of the book. It is the section on using the CCG in the RPG. The whole section felt out of place and shoved in and didn't really need to be there. This chapter also had rules for some of the more common animals of Rokugan.

Finally we come to the Book of the Void. This is the chapter for the long haul. It describes how to handle campaigns. How to start them how to run them and finally how to end them. Like the book of water's character rules this isn't a must have for most GMs but could be helpful for a first timer.

At the end of the book we have an appendix. Here we find the authors notes and a bibliography of books and films that influenced L5R. Not surprisingly Akira Kurosawa's samurai epics are listed. After that comes the Miscellaneous tables which include a whole lot of encounter tables for any situation, a table for filling up an inn (or any place for that matter) with NPCs, a list of 300 names, 100 gifts and various maps.

Over all this is a very dry read but then again it's supposed to be. This is a utility for any one who is running a campaign of L5R. It does its job very well and fills in a lot of the holes and gaps many of the players felt were missing. even though the book does suffer from a few editing glitches its not to much for a gm to handle. I have to say that this should be on any L5R GM's wish list and a definite second purchase for anyone entering the game.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

GM's Survival Guide
Author: Jim Pinto Category: game Company/Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group Line: Legend of the Five Rings Cost: $23.95 msrp Page count: 160 Capsule Review by Kyle Voltti on 06/23/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Historical Asian/Far_East	The GM's Survival Guide is subtitled "1001 campaign hints, tips, and answers". I haven't counted them all yet but it has to be close to that number. This book makes the perfect companion piece to the main rules. It's even laid out like the main rulebook into five chapters. The Book of Earth is an in depth examination of Rokugani society. This chapter covers everything and I mean everything from what people eat to what kind of houses they have (so it does have everything and the kitchen sink :-). This will probably be the most useful chapter for GM's by allow them to really flesh out the seating for the players. Next is the Book of Water. This chapter details advanced character generation rules. For the most part this isn't all that useful for experienced gamers but it does contain a list of all the current skills advantages and disadvantages so it's an excellent quick reference for them with brief descriptions and their locations in various books. The Book of Fire expands the combat rules giving options for the GM to slow down or speed up combat as well as expanding the descriptions of weapons. There is also more detail into formal duels. There are also some optional rules for honor and glory. The book of air concerns itself with Game play but the best part of the chapter is the NPC section. It gives descriptions of NPC's as well as skills they would have and a quick generation method. The worst part of the chapter is also what I feel is the worst part of the book. It is the section on using the CCG in the RPG. The whole section felt out of place and shoved in and didn't really need to be there. This chapter also had rules for some of the more common animals of Rokugan. Finally we come to the Book of the Void. This is the chapter for the long haul. It describes how to handle campaigns. How to start them how to run them and finally how to end them. Like the book of water's character rules this isn't a must have for most GMs but could be helpful for a first timer. At the end of the book we have an appendix. Here we find the authors notes and a bibliography of books and films that influenced L5R. Not surprisingly Akira Kurosawa's samurai epics are listed. After that comes the Miscellaneous tables which include a whole lot of encounter tables for any situation, a table for filling up an inn (or any place for that matter) with NPCs, a list of 300 names, 100 gifts and various maps. Over all this is a very dry read but then again it's supposed to be. This is a utility for any one who is running a campaign of L5R. It does its job very well and fills in a lot of the holes and gaps many of the players felt were missing. even though the book does suffer from a few editing glitches its not to much for a gm to handle. I have to say that this should be on any L5R GM's wish list and a definite second purchase for anyone entering the game. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)