Review of The Way of the Shadow

And Rokugan just got a little darker. As if Fu Leng and the Shadowlands hordes were not enough of a challenge to the defenders of Rokugan - oh, yes, and the blood-witches of the maho-tsukai, and the internal wars of the clans - well this book introduces a new and more insidious and subtle danger. I don't want to ruin the surprise, as discovering its name and nature is central to the adventures in the book, but put it this way: if Fu Leng stood for the complete opposite of the natural order of the kami and Rokugan, what could stand for the complete opposite of *both * of them? Nothing could, surely?

The format builds on the approach used in previous L5R RPG sourcebooks, such as the Book of the Shadowlands, using journal entries to set the tone and introduce the material. (My one criticism: the mock-parchment pages are not that easy on the eye.) Here the text in question is the journal of the famous Dragon magistrate Kitsuki Kaagi, peerless investigator into the truth behind the Ninja. In what works as an excellent piece of oriental fantasy fiction, the reader follows Kaagi-san as one seemingly minor inquiry leads him deeper and deeper into a dangerous world of magic, shadow and intrigue. Each of the four main episodes is also laid out as an adventure, with details, stats and GM's notes, so that the players can follow the same winding road.

Furthermore, there is a wealth of useful background information for ninjas, magistrates and the like. Given the injunctions against samurai touching dead flesh, for example, how does a magistrate carry out an autopsy? If one wants to touch a body, he or she must make a willpower roll, and will lose prestige for publicly doing so. But even if the roll is failed, the character loses some Honour (which represents their self-image) for even having thought of doing anything so disgusting! A good example of how game mechanics can be used to support good role-playing.

The first L5R RPG supplements, the Clan books, were of uneven quality, ranging from the outstanding to the so-so. Ultimately, though, they needed to be published simply to set the basic stage. It is in later supplements, such as City of Lies and Way of the Shadow, that the writers have really begun to be able to show what makes Rokugan such a complex, distinctive and fascinating role-playing world. Furthermore, the quality of writing and invention is, for my money, currently the industry's best. Here Jennifer Wick has not only produced an excellent gaming aid, she has also written an engaging, scary and even moving story in its own right.

Too good to be true? Buy it and find out - I doubt you'll be disappointed, even if you just want a good read and a source for useful hints on running scary adventures.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)