For those not familiar with Legend of the Five Rings, it's certainly one of the better games to be released in recent years, taking the barely-touched genre of eastern fantasy and designing a densely-detailed world about it. Set in the land of Rokugan, the game deals with the conflict between various groups of samurai, sorcerers ("shugenja"), and monsters that populate the land. To the south of Rokugan lie the Shadowlands, a demon-infested hell only kept at bay by a group of samurai known as the Crab clan.
There have been three books released detailing the Shadowlands - The Book of the Shadowlands: the Writings of Kuni Mokuna, The Book of the Shadowlands 2: Bearers of Jade, and The Way of the Shadowlands. This review deals with The Book of the Shadowlands, though I will compare and contrast it to the other two books to some extent - see the following reviews for more detail on them.
Book of the Shadowlands was one of the earliest books for Legend of the Five Rings, and is probably their classiest to date... as much as the term 'classy' applies to any RPG release. It's hardbound and, where it not for the stat sidebars, might fool one into thinking it's a coffee-table book not unlike Children of the Inquistion for Vampire. Supposedly penned by Kuni Mokuna, an "in-game" character, the grand majority of the book is made up of his observations and sketches, with sidebars detailing rules and statistics for the shadowlands and its denizens.
Sadly, the stylistic strength of this book is offset by its cost - $24.95. While it seems thick enough at 160 pages, bear in mind the layout of the book is quite 'thin', so it reads more like a book half its size. While there is a quite a bit of information in here, it goes fast, and those thin on the wallets might want to mark the substance rating down to an 'average'.
The Book of the Shadowlands is probably the most utilitarian of the three Shadowlands books for gamemasters, covering the most basic aspects of the shadowlands, much of which had already been noted or touched upon on previous supplements (like the Legend of the Five Rings 1st ed. rulebook). It expands on that information, though, and develops races - such as goblins, ogres, and trolls - into convincing cultures rather than simple brain-dead monstrosities. Even the seemingly suicidal, brain-dead goblins get their due time, having their mindset fully defined in a way that harkens back to the twisted logic of early Warhammer Orks. It's interesting that the developers were able to maintain the tongue-in-cheek nature of the goblins and yet still present them as a credible threat to the land of Rokugan.
The first chapter deals with the Shadowlands themselves. There's very little rules here, but there doesn't need to be - most of it is purely descriptive and well-written in its description of the tortured lands. It makes clear that, south of the border, most samurai are very, very vulnerable to the denizens and dangers of the Shadowlands, and despite the 'fantasy' feel of the game, the book is quite good in evoking a horrific mood. However, it's sometimes a bit overwhelming, if not as overbearing and unstoppable as things are presented in Book of the Shadowlands 2.
Maho (black magic) is touched upon lightly, which is somewhat odd due to its strong ties to the Shadowlands. While included in the now out-of-print gamemaster's screen, and now in the Legend of the Five Rings Gamemaster's Guide, it's puzzling that the actual rules dealing with it are left out, especially when additional Maho rules are included in both Book of the Shadowlands 2 and Way of the Shadowlands. While not the grandest of oversights, it's a bit dissapointing that they didn't reprint it at all in the course of three supplements on the subject.
The next chapter deals with the Taint - a spiritual corruption gained from exposure to shadowlands creatures, maho, or the shadowlands themselves. The Taint is a very nice GM tool, and could easily be adapted to other games where spiritual corruption is a concern (such as Werewolf or perhaps even Call of Cuthulu). It gives a very nice tool to dangle in front of the player, as it gives greater power at the price of self-control. The Book of the Shadowlands 2 and especially Way of the Shadowlands develop this further, making it into the sort of dark genie of Legend of the Five Rings. Furthermore, curing it isn't easy, and is a very nice adventure hook for PCs that wish to purify themselves. Rules for zombies and skeletons are also included, for whenever you need to throw a shambling mob at the PC.
The third chapter deals with the aforementioned goblins. Pretty much all you'll ever need on them is contained in this chapter, from culture to tactics to magic and more. Especially entertaining is their use of 'Magic Mud'... pitch, that is, which they then light and fling themselves en immolated masse at groups of samurai. While comical, the disturbing nature of goblins - from living in their own filth to brutal mating rituals - is thankfully never broken. Only two major gaffes can be found in this section - once again, maho is referenced... the Game Master's Screen is referenced, of course, but then it references 'advanced maho rules' in Walking the Way... rules that were never published in Walking the Way, or, for that matter, in any other book.
The fourth chapter covers ogres and trolls. Despite the great detail which the ogres get, they sadly remain little more than the musclebound thugs of the Shadowlands. Still, the trolls make more cunning foes, capable of using 'Alienesque' tactics to suprise PCs.
The fifth chapter is about Oni - demons, in other words. One complaint I've heard in the past by other players that if you give something statistics and rules, it renders it vulnerable - a good example would be the classic AD&D monster manual, where even archdemons are given full statistics, thus putting them at the mercy of the rules and player ingenuity. I would have to state, however, that the Oni seem to be the opposite mold - the stats they're given make them all the more deadly. While they aren't invulnerable by any means, any single one is more than a match for nearly any group of PCs, and nothing really hammers home the horror theme of this book like they do. The section sports some of the most beautiful art on the book, and I'd have to say the only art I've seen match it for a critter guide would be Call of Cuthulu, 4th edition.
The sixth chapter details a variety of threats from the subtle (bog hag) to the simply irritating (mujina). It nicely rounds out the book, giving a variety of suprises to spring on players.
The seventh and last chapter deals with the nezumi, a ratlike race that makes up the only non-malevolent force in the shadowlands. While the section is nice, the sidebar information is questionable - for example, it includes very specific details on a single tribe of nezumi. It also gives NPC character points for the creation of nezumi... but why would a NPC need to be 'balanced' in this fashion? Despite the puzzling asides, though, this ends the book on a something of a less oppressive note.
This book is pretty much the 'bread-and-butter' for Shadowlands games, and is more-or-less required reading for the second two books, since things like Taint (vital to various parts of both of the later book) are never detailed so strongly again. However, it doesn't bring too much in the way of new ideas, simply detailing the already-established elements of the Shadowlands, and it certainly doesn't have the 'mad idea' syndrome that practically infests Book of the Shadowlands 2. It also doesn't detail the human servants of the Shadowlands very much - though that's mainly the province of Way of the Shadowlands, still, it makes the book into more like a creature compendium for the Shadowlands than the last word on the dark realm.
Overall, it's the most vital book of the three for a gamemaster looking to have characters venture into the Shadowlands. While it suffers from the danger of just being another 'creature feature' book, the detail in which it covers its subject makes it a great tool beyond being a collection of monstrous adversaries.
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