This is a follow-up to my review of the first Book of the Shadowlands. This review assumes you have read the first review. If you haven't - go read it - and come back here when you're done, as this review essentially assumes you've read that earlier review.
Bearers of Jade is essentially a follow-up to Book of the Shadowlands. Rather than cover the more basic details like its predecessor does, it delves into subjects which are more esoteric and unique in nature. Like the first, it is largely delivered 'in character', though this one is a collection of anecdotes, tales, and stories collected by the fictional Seikansha. As such, it has no strong focus other than the Shadowlands - it's a grab bag of 'mad ideas' to use as story hooks, settings, and adversaries for a Legend of the Five Rings game. In addition, this book is in some ways a follow-up as well to Way of the Crab, the book that detailed the Crab clan (who defend the empire against the Shadowlands), with extra character creation options for would-be Crab players.
The first chapter, Life at the Mouth of Hell, details a miscellany of facts regarding the Crab clan and their vigilance at the great wall that keeps the Shadowlands at bay from the rest of Rokugan. Some extra tidbits on the taint, peasant superstitions, and the like make for a nice, utilitarian chapter. However, the first part, a short story dealing with life on the wall, is kind of redundant after Way of the Crab was released (which covers the same subject in much greater detail). Still, a nice writeup on madness improves things, offering insight on the views of madness in Rokugan and the difference between normal insanity and that which is brought on by the Taint.
Chapter 2, the Tarnished Lands, details various areas in the Shadowlands. One of the best pieces details how various areas in the Shadowlands 'shift', making it impossible to map the region properly and often making explorers lost, which gives a nice, Blair Witchesque horror element to the lands (wait... didn't we pass by here three days ago?).
Unfortunately, this is also where the 'mad ideas' I mentioned earlier begin to poke holes in the work. There are many strange and bizarre ideas in Bearers of Jade, and some of which feel out-of-place, defy the mood, or are just plain overwhelming. While the unrestrained quality of the book adds nicely to the horror atmosphere, there are several pieces in the book that don't seem particularly frightening - simply surreal, and in some cases, kind of silly. Two examples in this chapter would be 'lava trees' - carnivorous trees filled with, yes, lava, and the fields of hair, where zombies lay in wait under the earth, only their hair popping above-soil. Thankfully, this is balanced out by other strong points, like the massive Kusatte Iru (a sleeping on so large it's a landmark) or the Toshi no Kijo, the ancient and abandoned troll city.
The third chapter, Lost Relics, deals mainly with cursed items spawned by the Shadowlands and its servants, with the occasional genuinely beneficial item left behind in - guess where? - the Shadowlands. Once again, a couple of ideas seem odd... one item, the Bag of the Walking Forest, is practically unstoppable once used, and would mean the doom of Rokugan... and the book suggests it would make a good inheritance item for a player (?!). While few of the ideas in the book are so overwhelming, items like this could shake the suspension of disbelief in a campaign (or "Somebody remind me why the Shadowlands haven't taken over again?"). Once again, it's balanced out by equally good ideas, but it gives the book an oddly inconsistent feel to it.
Chapter 4 details "Fu Leng's Army", and gives more creatures on top of those already detailed in Book of the Shadowlands. The most utilitarian of the lot is the Onikage (demon horses), who are practically vital to using the Dark Moto in the later book, Way of the Shadowlands. There are, once again, great ideas (the Mountain Ogress or the Mamono) balanced by just-plain-run-if-you-encounter-this (the Oni no Tobehifu or the Shuden Doji). While I certainly don't think the PCs should be able to defeat every creature they run across - far from it - but each of those seem quite capable of overrunning the empire on their own, and yet no justification is given as to why they haven't.
The fifth chapter, Workers of Maho, is more consistent than the previous ones. Dealing with incursions of maho users within the empire, there are a lot of good ways to hook the Shadowlands within a game here without going south in this chapter. I was pleasantly suprised for it save for the Maho-Bujin school, a warriors school for samurai enslaved to the Shadowlands. While I realize it's an NPC school, it seems vastly overpowered - in most circumstances, the first two or three ranks will create a more effective combatant than any normal school would at rank five! I'm particularly puzzled by their first ability, which grants them additional attacks based upon how high the honor of their opponent is. Honor has always been presented as one of the more effective guards against the Shadowlands, so why PCs are being penalized in this fashion is beyond me (especially when it's already restrictive enough as-is).
Chapter 6 brings the book to probably the biggest gem in the book - Lost Souls. This details a man's torture by a general of the Shadowlands armies, and many little bits are included in here that could be used for the entire basis of an epic campaign. While the narrative is rambling and confusing, it's obviously intentional, and the lack of major game statistics doesn't hurt this chapter in the least.
Finally, the appendices detail extra powers for those who are extremely Tainted (the akutensai and akutenshi), extra battle tables for Shadowlands battles, and Kobo Ichi-kai, the Crab martial art. My only complaint, is, like Mizu-Do (the Crane martial art put forth in Way of the Crane), Kobo is rather overpowered for a simple skill. Kobo is even more powerful (just like Mizu-Do) when compared to the first style introduced in the game, Kaze-Do. Some beautifully nasty maho spells and nice tips on running a horror game finish the book up.
Overall, the book is a very nice addition to the original Book of the Shadowlands. The creativity and originality in this book is both its biggest strength and weakness, with some ideas that are too good to ever ignore and some that just don't seem to fit anywhere. The strength of the really frightening ideas makes it a real watermark for horror roleplaying. While not quite as vital, it includes more than enough story hooks, ideas, and general craziness to keep any Legend of the Five Rings gamemaster set for years. If you're looking for more on the Shadowlands past the surface put out in Book of the Shadowlands, this is for you.
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