When we last left our heroic samurai, they had received their copy of the Legend of the Five Rings Player's Guide. Some changes had been made to both the land of Rokugan and the rules governing it. The feelings on these changes were mixed for many of the fans of the game. But even those who might not have agreed with the 'new' Rokugan will definitely find the Game Master's Guide a good resource to set stories in the Emerald Empire.
Maps Good, Fire Bad
One of my complaints of the original L5R rulebook was the lack of definition of the actual physical lands of Rokugan. We're given one black and white map and three pages of locations and small mentions of the kind of lands each Clan has. The GM Guide fixes that right away with an in-depth look at everyone's lands. Now you know where Otosan Uchi is related to the Kaiu Wall. In addition to the two maps on the inside front and back covers, the Clan lands get zoomed-in maps in the sections where they are detailed. Even the currently dissolved Scorpion lands are detailed seperately for those who might not have their game following along the metaplot of Rokugan. My only complaints about this section are the maps aren't very good-looking. They are functional but fall flat graphically.
An Elegant Culture
The next section deals with a fairly in-depth examination of Rokugani culture. The GM is told the importance of fans, the relationship of sensei/student, the meaning of seppuku, and so on. This is what attracted me to L5R in the first place. The authors have done their homework in Asian culture and have enriched this world with the fascinating traditions of the real-life counterparts of Rokugan. The only weak spot in this section is the lack of Shadowlands material. The Book of the Shadowlands is long out of print and I was hoping some of that forgotten lore made it's way into this book but I wanted more then they gave me. The book also mentions the Shadow, the living embodiment of oblivion that threatens the empire in addition to Fu Leng.
1001 Adventures
The real meat of this book are the tools given to the GM. There are encounter tables in the sections on the Clan holdings, random npc tables with some fairly in-depth personality generators, a revised battle table, a list of skills, advantages, disadvantages from across the game line, advanced schools, a very short introductory adventure, and most importantly, the return of Challenge, Focus, and Strike adventures. These are short adventure seeds laid out in the following manner:
Challenge: The set-up to the adventure.
Focus: What the PC's gotta do.
Strike: What complications arise to foul up the PCs.
These were always one of the neatest things in the original book but the new edition goes one better. The Guide discusses the various skills, advantages, and disadvantages and attaches CFS stories to the majority of them. For example, the CFS for the Heartless advantage is a heartwreching plea to the PC to aid a village in need. The heartless PC hears none of it so the NPC turns to one of the less skilled or stoic PCs...how does the rest of the group react to the coldness of the first? This is the heart of samurai drama.
The Bottom Line:
The GM's Guide is a wonderful addition to the L5R GM's library. It handles the task of reprinting essential information without rendering previous editions obsolete. (I still recommend the original GM's survival guide) My only two complaints are the seemingly rushed job done on the maps and the twisted purpose of this guide. 2nd Edition was supposedly done to fix rules and bring new players to Rokugan. The rules fixes are questionable and some of the things in the GM guide (The Advanced Bushi Schools, for example, or the big list of skills, advantages and disadvantages) seem to only apply to people who've been in Rokugan for a while. As good as the package is, I would probably recommend to those interested in L5R to find a copy of the 1st edition so you can get in on "the ground floor". For experienced L5R GM's, though, this is a purchase you shouldn't do without.
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