Otosan Uchi
for Legend of the Five Rings
Alderac Entertainment Group
4045 Guasti Road, Suite 212
Ontario, CA 91761
Price: $34.95
Contents and credits:
Book 1: The Imperial Capital: A Location Guide
96 pages, perfect bound
Compiled by Patrick Kapera with additional material by Scott Gearin, "Gembu" Mike, David Molinar, and Kevin Wilson
Credits include Patrick Kapera, Kevin Boerwinkle, Alex Fox, Eli Basquez, Ree Soesbee, Jim Pinto, Ray Yand
Book 2: The Forbidden City: A Walking Tour
96 pages, perfect bound
Written by Patrick Kapera with additional material by Scott Gearin, "Gembu" Mike, and Kevin Wilson
Book 3: The Scorpion's Sting: A Game Master's Guide to the Scorpion Clan Coup
80 pages, perfect bound
by Ree Soesbee with additional by Don Gates and Rob Daux
Maps: Cris Dornaus, Steve Hough, and Valerie Valusek
[Review copy, though not sent directly by rpg.net]
Grade: B-
Reviewed by Lisa Padol
Let's get one thing clear: My biggest complaint about this product is completely unfair, essentially blaming AEG for a job well done.
One of the best products AEG published was the boxed set City of Lies. It set a standard, and it has not yet been topped. I would rank it as one of the top ten rpg supplements. (I don't know what the other nine are, except that they include Masks of Nyarlathotep.) My biggest, and utterly unfair complaint, is that Otosan Uchi is no City of Lies. It is, however, a solid and necessary addition to the L5R line, the kind of product that is often underappreciated. Essentially, the authors have created a city that is ready to run. This means that they have done a lot of the drudge work so that you don't have to. They identify shops, schools, embassies, and so on, going building by building in some cases. One of the major reasons to by a packaged city like this rather than creating one's own is to avoid having to invent all of this -- it's right there.
This is not to say that the authors have done all the work. For instance, none of the NPCs have Glory listed, and none of the shuggenja have spells. This is so that GMs can set their own power levels. It is a deliberate decision, but one I disagree with. I'd rather have a default power level and not have to invent spells and stats on the fly. This is what one buys a product like Otosan Uchi to avoid doing. If the authors want to give readers an extra bonus, they can give a couple of different versions of each NPC, or at least some indication of how to alter power levels based on GM requirements.
This complaint aside, the first two books of Otosan Uchi do a fine job of describing the outer and inner districts of the city. In addition, readers get a political overview of the city, learn how and why etiquette in Otosan Uchi differs from etiquette elsewhere in Rokugan, and to learn how early decrees made for a much smaller city have stifled the development of Otosan Uchi.
All of this is facilitated by maps. First, there are the maps that are separate from the books. One is a gorgeous color map, drawn to give an impression of 3D. (My apologies for not knowing the technical term for this.) It is an excellent game prop. The second map is a GM tool. Black, white, and blue, it shows the buildings as numbered squares keyed to the first two books.
In addition, the back of book 1 has a colorful map of the city's districts, while the back of book 2 has a black, white, and blue map of the "Undercity and Waterways". I would have preferred these to be separate from the books, but that's a minor quibble. It's a lot harder to lose a map that's on the back of the book.
I found the second book less dry than the first, perhaps because it was written as if Miya Yorikago were taking a samurai on a tour. But all of the material in both books is useful to any GM who wants to set at least part of her campaign in the city that is the heart of Rokugan.
The third book is a GM's guide to running the Scorpion coup. I liked this material better than I thought I would, although my basic objections to the concept remain unchanged. Specifically, I don't like scripted events in a scenario that cannot be changed, regardless of PC action, and I do not like the creation of gameworlds with set timelines to which mere GMs do not have full access. The Scorpion Coup gets demerits for scripting, but the timeline has been accessible to everyone for at least two years before Otosan Uchi came out.
Scripted scenarios can be made enjoyable. They can even be made good. I am happy to say that the Scorpion Coup is both.
How does one make a scripted scenario work? Most scenarios have some degree of scripting. The key is to let the PCs have freedom of action and to let that action affect the game world. The authors are careful to explain what the PCs can accomplish at any given point and to make it clear that their actions are important. I would prefer even more freedom and less scripting. It would be nice if the authors showed how PCs could fill major NPC roles, like that of Akodo Toturi. But throughout, it is clear that the PCs' actions, whatever they may be, matter. In this, the Scorpion Coup is not unlike a Pendragon game where the overall timeline is set in stone, but PC knights and magicians still do things that count.
This contrasts with products where no deviation is allowed from a narrow track with a predestined outcome. In one such scenario, specific battles are so detailed about who lives, who dies, and who is captured that there seems to be no need for the PCs.
The Scorpion Coup showed me how that kind of adventure can be tweaked so that it is more of a game and less of a novel. First, keep the on-screen scripted scenes and speechifying to a minimum. Second, in any given scene, explain in detail what the PCs might accomplish. Do not make vague statements, like "This battle is destined to be lost, but the PCs have the opportunity to save a lot of innocent people." Instead, say something like "A unit of Lions will be burned alive unless the PCs rescue them. They are tied to stakes in the middle of Toyotomi district, and the fires will be lit at the hour of the Hare." This is what the Scorpion's Sting provides. There is enough information to run specific battles in both L5R and Clan Wars.
Also, the authors have tried to design for maximum flexibility. Rather than stretching plausibility to make sure all PCs are -- or are not -- at the Imperial Palace when the coup begins, the adventure is written in three strands, one for people inside the palace, one for those outside the palace but inside the city, and one for those outside the city. Better still, GMs are shown how the strands may intertwine and how PCs may move between them. This has similarities to Chaosium's "The Raid on Innsmouth" scenario, although it is more freeform.
For the most part, it is easy to follow what is going on at any point. The authors make it easier with a timetable on the back cover that proved most useful to me while writing this review. It lists all the major events, along with the page they appear on. Each event is color coded by which tale or tales they appear in. Great idea, great location of the chart. My only quibble is that it is hard to distinguish between the shades of colors used to indicate which events appear in which tales.
Also, there are a few spots of confusion within the book. Akodo Toturi was poisoned, but escapes. How was he able to escape? His geisha, who was ordered by the Scorpion to poison him, is brought to Bayushi Kachiko, in an annoyingly pre-scripted and incomprehensible scene. Is the geisha begging mercy for poisoning Akodo Toturi, or for his escape? What role did she play in his escape? She appeals to Bayushi Kachiko as one woman to another, but the offended Scorpion orders her death. What was the offense, exactly? Expecting mercy? Failure? The poisoning? Presuming geisha and samurai had anything in common? Still, this scene is the exception, not the norm. For the most part, the authors are clear and willing to let GMs run the adventure their own way.
The last pages of the Scorpion's Sting contain some post-coup material, and there is more in Winter Court: Kyuden Kaikita. It should all have been in Scorpion's Sting; I suspect some of the material was cut for reasons of space.
I was careful not to read the Scorpion clan novel until after writing my first draft of this review. The novel is useful, but non-essential, which is a point in Otosan Uchi's favor. I don't know how much coordination there was between novel and game, but the Scorpion's Sting properly focuses on entirely different parts of the coup than the novel.
If you have any intention of running adventures in the capital of Rokugan, pick up Otosan Uchi, even if you don't plan to run The Scorpion's Sting.
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