Hello, everyone. I’m pretty tired and things are crazy right now, so please forgive me if this installment is a bit shorter than normal.

Imperial Histories, Volume 2

It’s off to print! Did I mention that last time? I might have. But I’m so happy that I don’t care, I’m mentioning it again! It’s off to print! So many things went amiss with the production of this book that I believe it may be the single most challenging endeavor I have undertaken as part of my duties with AEG since… well, since Creatures of Rokugan. Don’t even get me started on that one. Oof.

The last time we talked, I filled you in on the big secret I’ve been keeping about the book, which of course is the content of Chapter 13, Empire of the Emerald Stars. As I explained previously, the big draws for the first Imperial Histories were of course the Thousand Years of Darkness and the Heroes of Rokugan chapters. We lacked a “big gun,” so to speak, for this installment. Ultimately I decided to do something completely outside the box, something that would help demonstrate exactly the kind of deviation from canon that we allow and even encourage GMs to make in order to create their own stories. The result, of course, was a little something that we originally simply referred to as “samurai in space.”

There’s a lot of interesting stuff in that chapter. I say that without blatant self-aggrandizement because, while I built the foundation of the chapter, most of the really neat stuff was added by my friend and freelancer, Max. He did an incredible job of sowing the seeds for a tremendous number of campaigns even in a single time period, and I think his work is really going to shine through on this particular piece. Here’s a delightful little snipped from the timeline that you might enjoy.

Year 2765. A scientist of the Phoenix Clan, Asako Netsuo, proves the existence of other planets in space through the use of powerful telescopes and specialized magic. He does not foresee the religious backlash which is triggered by the discovery, which seems to imply the existence of other worlds not subordinate to the Celestial Heavens. Tensions build throughout the Empire, with many decrying Netsuo as a blasphemer. The divisions eventually escalate into a military conflict known as the War of the Tao. The Emperor does not intervene to halt the war, possibly unwilling or unable to quell the dispute.

Year 2775. Under the Emperor’s sponsorship, the most powerful shugenja in the Empire complete a ritual which allows them to observe one of the alien worlds closest to Rokugan. It is a planet full of verdant jungles, and the shugenja conclude it is more strongly influenced by Chikushudo than Rokugan itself, but still very much tied to the Spirit Realms and the greater cosmology of Rokugani beliefs. This brings an end to the War of the Tao as the most religious Rokugani accept the existence of other planets as the will of Heaven, and the Great Clans begin to work together to visit and explore these new worlds.

Year 2797. The Phoenix complete the ritual known as Opening the Way, allowing travel at faster than the speed of the Jade Sun’s light. At the same time, the Unicorn complete construction of the Shinjo, the first fully operational starship. A joint mission of samurai from all of the Great Clans arrive on the nearest alien planet and dub it First Landing. The planet’s life forms are broadly similar to Rokugan’s, but there are many new species as well. Rare or entirely new materials found on the planet fetch astronomical prices on Rokugan's markets, and all the Great Clans start mounting space expeditions of their own.

In those three little paragraphs, mere snippets of a much larger timeline and chapter, we see how the tropes of space setting can be brought in without sacrificing the purity of L5R’s philosophies and conflicts.

The Book of Fire

As I have mentioned on previous occasions, the Design Team reserves the exclusive right to design all mechanics that appear for the L5R RPG. We’ve maintained this policy because we are greedy, selfish men who long to keep all the fun parts for ourselves. However, I am making an attempt to be less selfish, and as a result we are letting some of our senior freelancers make more decisions based upon the mechanics that match the sections they cover. In the Book of Fire, I’m working on the shugenja Paths that accompany the text written by Dave Laderoute, who like Max is one of our top guys. Dave came up with some interesting ideas and some interesting mechanics to support them. One of them involved a Phoenix group called the Inferno Guard, a sub-division of the Firestorm Legion. Dave’s suggestion called for the Inferno Guard to employ fire magic in a semi-defensive manner, such that they aid in the protection of their charges via intimidation and fear. I took his suggested mechanics, which were quite good, and have condensed and revised them somewhat as follows:

Inferno Guard
The elemental legions of the Phoenix Clan are a legend among many of the Empire’s military traditions. Although small in number, the ranks of the true legions are filled exclusively with shugenja, a completely unprecedented arrangement that exists nowhere else in the Emerald Empire. In order to reach true legion strength, each is supplemented with a unit of Shiba warriors trained extensively in cooperation with their shugenja brothers. The Firestorm Legion and their attendants among the Legion of Flame are the most aggressive of the elemental legions, and ever on the forefront of any battle in which they are included among the Phoenix forces. Despite their overwhelmingly aggressive tactics, however, even the vaunted Firestorm Legion must have a rearguard, and that is the purpose of the Inferno Guard.

The Inferno Guard could not be called a defensive unit even by the most warmongering commander, but the tactics they employ do serve to protect key locations and personnel. They defend by creating walls of fire, they protect by immolating archery fire from the sky, and they obscure by filling the skies with thick plumes of smoke.

New Phoenix Alternate Path: The Inferno Guard [Shugenja]

• Technique Rank: 3
• Replaces: Isawa Shugenja 3
• Requires: Fire 3, Affinity for Fire
• Technique: Menacing Flames – Members of the Inferno Guard have learned how to employ certain Fire spells in such a manner as to maximize the apparent threat they represent to opponents. When casting any Fire spell that does not list “One Target Creature” or “One Target Individual” as its Area of Effect, the caster may either spend a Void Point or expend an additional Spell Slot to give the spell an additional Fear X effect, where X is the Mastery Level of the spell.

As you can see, the idea here is that lower level spells allow a member of the guard to quickly debuff lesser opponents, but the more powerful an enemy is, and therefore the more likely they are to resist a Fear check, the more significant a spell needs to be used in order to get the Fear to take hold. I think it will work out nicely, although it has not yet seen playtesting. What do you think?

Secrets of the Empire

Secrets is still in the writing stage, meaning that we haven’t done any significant mechanical development just yet. Last time we looked at the mechanical suggestions for the Bat Clan. This time, I thought I’d share with you a little bit that Robert Denton wrote for us about the Oriole Clan, so you can see that we’re trying to find ways to approach the different Minor Clans in a manner that breaks some of the stereotypes.

Oriole Bushi
Those who do not show an affinity for any sort of craft usually serve the clan as mere bushi. As it is for others who have failed to prove skillful at sword-forging, these Oriole are usually looked down upon by their peers, even though their duties are essential to the survival of the clan. In fact, the clan has so few true bushi, that it is common for Oriole lords to hire ronin to protect their lands. Every "home-grown" bushi is thus invaluable to the Oriole, and the attitude that they are somehow inferior to the sword-smiths is something that would make most other samurai in the Empire shake their heads. Yet the bushi of the Oriole quietly accept their peers' judgement, for even they believe it themselves.

While all of the Oriole practice kenjutsu to better understand how their swords might be improved, it is the clan bushi who practice it as a true martial art. Only recently have the Oriole established a true dojo, and while they have yet to develop their own martial techniques, they are making considerable progress under the guidance of their Dragon-trained sensei. The Oriole Dojo teaches every common Kata known in the Empire, and its students often excel at the execution of these kata.

Most Tsi bushi do not begin their training in the Oriole dojo, however. The Dragon and Lion both open their schools to promising Tsi students in the hopes that the Oriole might offer a Tsi Blade in exchange. The sensei of the dojos usually notice that the students seem unusually old for one who is just beginning the path of the bushi, but they never draw attention to this fact. Oriole usually return to their clan after learning only the first technique of their school, but this alone puts them well above most hired ronin. Such Tsi will have distinguished careers in their future. In an effort to change the minds of the clan, the Champion has always bowed deeply to those who walk this path. Perhaps, with time, the others will follow suit, and bushi will be considered equal to those who honor the path of the Tsi's oldest ancestors.

What mechanics will spring from such writings? Only time will tell!

That’s it for this month, folks. See you next time!