The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Subtitled 'Villains, Companions and Campaign Ideas', 'Unexpected Allies' continued AEG's praiseworthy tradition of trying to put a novel spin on time-worn RPG concepts – in this case, the book of NPCs. I don't ultimately think the overall result is that useful, though: if anything, it continues and accelerates the trend visible in 'Winter Court' and 'Merchant's Guide…' of providing lots of colour and background, but too little of direct value in playing and running a campaign.

What you get is a book of the usual high AEG physical quality, with an 8 page story, 20 pages on creating and running NPCs as well as crime in Rokugan, and then 46 NPCs. There is, it has to be said, quite a lot of 'dead space': the story is nice, but nothing more than chrome; the GM's notes on running NPCs make a few useful points, but are largely self-evident, while the actual NPCs themselves are run on 2-page spreads, of which one is a full-sized character sheet. This is attractive to look at, but the stats could easily have been represented in a much more compact form – indeed, they could have simply shrunk the sheet to little more than a quarter of a page and, given the high quality of the printing, it would still have been entirely readable. Add a full-page picture or two, and this does seem rather heavily padded out.

This product stands or falls on the NPCs: are they interesting, coherent, usable in play? In most cases, they are interesting. For players of the CCG in particular, it is fun to see stats and backgrounds for characters such as Dairya and Morito Tokai. Even so, there are only two non-samurai character, and certain backgrounds (haunted by memory of dead parent, for example) do recur rather frequently. Some of the characters may be fairly stock, given an appropriate Rokugani veneer, but others are effective and inventive. The young Lion samurai Ikoma Tsuge, for example, trained for war but forced by circumstance to become a glorified nursemaid and travelling companion for his dishonoured grandfather. His proud stature is impressive enough that people assume he must be deadly (he's not that tough!), and because they find it hard to believe he could simply be the attendant he seems, they assume there is much more to him than meets the eye. It's a perfect example of Rokugan: the obsession with appearance, and the extent to which an environment full of plots means that no one accepts simple truths. But all too often, having less than one page to sketch the character means that these are very simple cameos, which hint at interesting ideas without really being able to develop them.

Coherent? There is a bit of a problem here, as stats, skills or, more to the point, advantages and disadvantages don't always fit well with the text description. For example, Isawa Ahiro, we are told, is haunted by the spirit of his father, who blames him for his mother's death…but doesn't have the Haunted disadvantage, and Kakita Hazuko has an intense fear of love, contact, even kissing…but no Phobia.

Usable? Here I'm not convinced. If the GM wants to include these characters into an adventure, then it really needs to be crafted around them. Few of the NPCs here can simply be dropped cold into an adventure without their depth and back-stories being wasted or turned into caricature. As for the other suggestion, using the characters as PCs, my first gut response is that a player who wants a completely ready-made character and background, rather than regarding building a persona at the start of and throughout play, really ought to push off and play computer games on his own.

So what are you left with? Some interesting and well-written text, some NPCs which can be used occasionally, and lots of fairly ephemeral padding and pretty pictures. It's not a bad book, but it is more for the Rokugan fanatic who wants to have and read everything. As a gaming supplement, it is nowhere near the 'must have' list. As I said at the beginning of the review, AEG seem to have had a run of supplements which, while sometimes good, sometimes indifferent, don't seem focused enough on the need to support L5R as a game rather than a fictional world. I look forward to the 'Otosan Uchi' supplement on the Imperial capital to redress this balance – even if it is only half as good as the superlative 'City of Lies' (reviewed earlier).

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Unexpected Allies
Author: Patrick Kapera & Ree Soesbee Category: game Company/Publisher: AEG Line: L5R RPG Cost: $19.95 Page count: 127 ISBN: 29220 300188 Playtest Review by Mark Galeotti on 08/08/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Asian/Far_East	Subtitled 'Villains, Companions and Campaign Ideas', 'Unexpected Allies' continued AEG's praiseworthy tradition of trying to put a novel spin on time-worn RPG concepts – in this case, the book of NPCs. I don't ultimately think the overall result is that useful, though: if anything, it continues and accelerates the trend visible in 'Winter Court' and 'Merchant's Guide…' of providing lots of colour and background, but too little of direct value in playing and running a campaign. What you get is a book of the usual high AEG physical quality, with an 8 page story, 20 pages on creating and running NPCs as well as crime in Rokugan, and then 46 NPCs. There is, it has to be said, quite a lot of 'dead space': the story is nice, but nothing more than chrome; the GM's notes on running NPCs make a few useful points, but are largely self-evident, while the actual NPCs themselves are run on 2-page spreads, of which one is a full-sized character sheet. This is attractive to look at, but the stats could easily have been represented in a much more compact form – indeed, they could have simply shrunk the sheet to little more than a quarter of a page and, given the high quality of the printing, it would still have been entirely readable. Add a full-page picture or two, and this does seem rather heavily padded out. This product stands or falls on the NPCs: are they interesting, coherent, usable in play? In most cases, they are interesting. For players of the CCG in particular, it is fun to see stats and backgrounds for characters such as Dairya and Morito Tokai. Even so, there are only two non-samurai character, and certain backgrounds (haunted by memory of dead parent, for example) do recur rather frequently. Some of the characters may be fairly stock, given an appropriate Rokugani veneer, but others are effective and inventive. The young Lion samurai Ikoma Tsuge, for example, trained for war but forced by circumstance to become a glorified nursemaid and travelling companion for his dishonoured grandfather. His proud stature is impressive enough that people assume he must be deadly (he's not that tough!), and because they find it hard to believe he could simply be the attendant he seems, they assume there is much more to him than meets the eye. It's a perfect example of Rokugan: the obsession with appearance, and the extent to which an environment full of plots means that no one accepts simple truths. But all too often, having less than one page to sketch the character means that these are very simple cameos, which hint at interesting ideas without really being able to develop them. Coherent? There is a bit of a problem here, as stats, skills or, more to the point, advantages and disadvantages don't always fit well with the text description. For example, Isawa Ahiro, we are told, is haunted by the spirit of his father, who blames him for his mother's death…but doesn't have the Haunted disadvantage, and Kakita Hazuko has an intense fear of love, contact, even kissing…but no Phobia. Usable? Here I'm not convinced. If the GM wants to include these characters into an adventure, then it really needs to be crafted around them. Few of the NPCs here can simply be dropped cold into an adventure without their depth and back-stories being wasted or turned into caricature. As for the other suggestion, using the characters as PCs, my first gut response is that a player who wants a completely ready-made character and background, rather than regarding building a persona at the start of and throughout play, really ought to push off and play computer games on his own. So what are you left with? Some interesting and well-written text, some NPCs which can be used occasionally, and lots of fairly ephemeral padding and pretty pictures. It's not a bad book, but it is more for the Rokugan fanatic who wants to have and read everything. As a gaming supplement, it is nowhere near the 'must have' list. As I said at the beginning of the review, AEG seem to have had a run of supplements which, while sometimes good, sometimes indifferent, don't seem focused enough on the need to support L5R as a game rather than a fictional world. I look forward to the 'Otosan Uchi' supplement on the Imperial capital to redress this balance – even if it is only half as good as the superlative 'City of Lies' (reviewed earlier). Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)