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The Way of the Naga

by Patrick Kapera and Ree Soesbee

for Legend of the Five Rings

Alderac Entertainment Group

128 pages, perfect bound

$19.95

Grade: B

reviewed by Lisa Padol

Well, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. AEG finally came out with a product for the L5R rpg that I had trouble following due to my lack of background in the Official L5R Storyline. Fortunately, the authors do a good job of explaining the unusual mindset of the inhuman, non-Rokugani Naga. They also do, if anything, too good a job of fitting the concept of the Naga into the familiar L5R mechanics.

Previously, L5R took its background primarily from Chinese and Japanese sources. With this book, Indian sources are added to the mixture. I have no idea which sources were used, or how well, but the Naga fit nicely into the world of Rokugan. This is not surprising, as they were part of the background of the CCG and hints of their existence were in the RPG from the beginning.

The Naga are a race of beings who are human from the waist up, and serpentine from the waist down. The women can shed their tails when they want to have legs. The entire race has been sleeping for centuries, and it is only now beginning to awaken.

The format of Way of the Naga is the same as for the books about the seven major clans. Five chapters describe the background of the Naga, including the individual bloodlines, which, in this case, are different breeds of snakes; important Naga NPCs; character creation options for Naga PCs; and five character templates. Several appendices follow, expanding on the Naga background and mechanics, with special attention payed to the Naga pearl magic. As usual, the art is excellent and the layout is good.

The strength of the Naga book is that it describes a culture that is truly different from that of Rokugan, as demonstrated by amusing tips from the Rokugani ambassador and his Naga counterpart for dealing with each other's people. Indeed, it is different from any human culture, for the Naga mind is intrinsically different from the human mind. Individual Naga have access to the memories of the entire race. This is something hard to grasp.

It is also hard to stat out if a beginning Naga PC is not to be significantly more powerful than a Rokugani PC. As a result, Naga PCs have several limits on their access to the racial memories. I think this is a shame, but at the same time, I understand the problems involved in doing it any other way.

The only other problem I have is the confusion about what time period the book is describing as the present. I have stumbled on some of the timeline information on the World Wide Web, although I'm not sure I could find it again, and I'm not sure exactly what's out there or what order to read it all in. I'd be delighted to get more information about this.

However, up until this book, I did not -need- such information to understand what was going on. Here, I would have been thoroughl lost if I hadn't recalled that the Naga are destined to aid the humans of Rokugan against Fu Leng. As it is, I can't tell if the "present" of the book is before the Scorpion Coup, during the wars following that coup, or after the defeat of Fu Leng.

Despite this, and despite my disappointment that the authors made the only logical decision about Naga PC character creation, the book works. The Naga culture is coherent, interesting, and alien. And for those GMs not as insane as I am, the mechanics are perfectly balanced. As the authors promise, the Naga are "completely compatible, right down to the very last scale."

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

The Way of the Naga
Author: Patrick Kapera and Ree Soesbee Category: game Company/Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group Line: Legend of the Five Rings Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 pages, perfect bound Capsule Review by Lisa Padol on 02/29/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Conspiracy Asian/Far_East	The Way of the Naga by Patrick Kapera and Ree Soesbee for Legend of the Five Rings Alderac Entertainment Group 128 pages, perfect bound $19.95 Grade: B reviewed by Lisa Padol Well, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. AEG finally came out with a product for the L5R rpg that I had trouble following due to my lack of background in the Official L5R Storyline. Fortunately, the authors do a good job of explaining the unusual mindset of the inhuman, non-Rokugani Naga. They also do, if anything, too good a job of fitting the concept of the Naga into the familiar L5R mechanics. Previously, L5R took its background primarily from Chinese and Japanese sources. With this book, Indian sources are added to the mixture. I have no idea which sources were used, or how well, but the Naga fit nicely into the world of Rokugan. This is not surprising, as they were part of the background of the CCG and hints of their existence were in the RPG from the beginning. The Naga are a race of beings who are human from the waist up, and serpentine from the waist down. The women can shed their tails when they want to have legs. The entire race has been sleeping for centuries, and it is only now beginning to awaken. The format of Way of the Naga is the same as for the books about the seven major clans. Five chapters describe the background of the Naga, including the individual bloodlines, which, in this case, are different breeds of snakes; important Naga NPCs; character creation options for Naga PCs; and five character templates. Several appendices follow, expanding on the Naga background and mechanics, with special attention payed to the Naga pearl magic. As usual, the art is excellent and the layout is good. The strength of the Naga book is that it describes a culture that is truly different from that of Rokugan, as demonstrated by amusing tips from the Rokugani ambassador and his Naga counterpart for dealing with each other's people. Indeed, it is different from any human culture, for the Naga mind is intrinsically different from the human mind. Individual Naga have access to the memories of the entire race. This is something hard to grasp. It is also hard to stat out if a beginning Naga PC is not to be significantly more powerful than a Rokugani PC. As a result, Naga PCs have several limits on their access to the racial memories. I think this is a shame, but at the same time, I understand the problems involved in doing it any other way. The only other problem I have is the confusion about what time period the book is describing as the present. I have stumbled on some of the timeline information on the World Wide Web, although I'm not sure I could find it again, and I'm not sure exactly what's out there or what order to read it all in. I'd be delighted to get more information about this. However, up until this book, I did not -need- such information to understand what was going on. Here, I would have been thoroughl lost if I hadn't recalled that the Naga are destined to aid the humans of Rokugan against Fu Leng. As it is, I can't tell if the "present" of the book is before the Scorpion Coup, during the wars following that coup, or after the defeat of Fu Leng. Despite this, and despite my disappointment that the authors made the only logical decision about Naga PC character creation, the book works. The Naga culture is coherent, interesting, and alien. And for those GMs not as insane as I am, the mechanics are perfectly balanced. As the authors promise, the Naga are "completely compatible, right down to the very last scale." Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)