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One of the problems of converting a traditional tabletop RPG to a Larp is will it be worth it? Take Shadowrun for example, a decent enough RPG, but between obscene and expensive costuming, and trying to turn a more or less good vs. evil, run out the guns game into a complex Larp is hardly worth the trouble. Some RPGs just work better than others, Normally games with a political or multi cultural basis work best. Take the most successful Larp to date, Vampire again Vampire is a great example of a world where players can intertwine a more social or political subplot into a great game, which is one reason it works so well in Larp. The world of Rokugan is one other world that seems well suited to the Larp treatment. So well suited in fact that I have run a homebrew version at gamicon for a couple of years. So when Alderac published an official rulebook for Larping L5R, I leapt at the chance to pick up a copy.
Weighing in at 192 pages, the Legend of the Five Rings Live Action Role Playing book is a digest sized soft back that has the look of much of Alderac’s post d20 releases. (In fact the book even has the Oriental Adventures logo, as well as a d20 logo) Which is odd, because there is no d20 content, there isn’t even an SRD in the book, which makes me wonder why they put the d20 logo on the book. Split into four chapters Legend of the Five Rings Live Action Role-playing (henceforth to be called L5R Larp) is actually quite in keeping with the roll and keep system that was Alderac’s staple before Oriental Adventures.
Chapter 1, history of Rokugan, is a decent introduction to the world of Rokugan as well as a decent intro to the basics of live action roleplaying. Starting with a 3-page piece of fiction, the book goes on to cover the standard Larp fare, (No touching, no real weapons, etc…) and then moves into a pretty thorough timeline of Rokugan’s history. Dating from pre history to 1165 (the rain of blood era) Since L5R is a game that has changed time lines in each edition; it’s pretty nice to have a reference in the Larp to help players get a feel for the history and to help the referee determine which era to set his game in. The rest of the chapter delves into the culture of Rokugan, and again while he dyed in the wool L5R fan may know the manners one needs around the Otomo family versus the Hida family, it’s good to have an in book reference for L5R newbies or just for reference. It is concise and well written for the Larp set and focuses on social interaction rather than Samurai warfare.
Chapter two covers the mechanics and is a rather sparse chapter indeed. The system on the outset looks like a clone of the roll and keep system, complete with similar difficulty numbers, raises and all. The main difference is that the game forgoes dice in favor of cards. In essence you draw a card and add the value to the appropriate stat skill combination. The Joker allows you to draw another card and double it’s value. Wounds (assuming you receive them) give you a penalty to your test. This system is simplistic and does work however the cards also invite 2 core problems. Firstly, it requires each player to have his own set of cards, which may be a pain to carry in the Kimono outfits one would wear in a Japanese fantasy. Secondly, it might be easier for players to cheat by stacking their own deck, or other tricks, All in all not bad, but at that same time not especially great either.
Which leads us to Chapter 3, the character creation chapter. Point based system that mirrors the 1st-3rd editions of L5R, So much in fact that I doubt conversion is really necessary. Again much of this is simply repeat for the benefit of completeness and for the players who aren’t familiar with the original RPG. O.K. the spells and weapon damages, are new, at least in description, but this is mostly to work better in a Larp setting.
The Final chapter covers the creation of blood speakers and minor clans and is more or less an overview chapter to help make villains or additional character types. This is one of the places where the book kind of falls apart. It ends rather abruptly after a page of the description of the lands beyond Rokugan, The book seems to be missing it’s detailed notes on costuming promised on the back cover of the book as well as missing the character sheet. While both of these are available on their web site, it’s kind of obvious that this book was a bit of a rush job on many levels. Does it work yes, but for the most part, they could have added most of the new Larp info into a chapter or two of the new edition rulebook, and removed the need for this volume altogether. This is why I am giving this book a low substance rating. There isn’t enough new material to really justify a new book, especially when the Larp rules equate to little more than an alternate diceless mechanic. It’s a bit of a disappointment, especially when you consider the strong potential of this product.
As a world Rokugan has been on the gaming table as a CCG, Minis game, and even 2 RPGs (original and d20) and while the potential for a live action game is definitely there this volume isn’t quite there.
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