Publisher: AEG
Designers: Shawn Carman, Robert Hobart, Jim Pinto, and Brian Yoon
Year: 2010
Players: It’s a roleplaying game so two or more players
Ages: 13+
Playing Time: Varies
Genre: Asian themed fantasy roleplaying game
Retail Price: $59.99 ($35.99 as a PDF)
Having already taken a look at the Emerald Empire supplement, I wanted to get a chance to review the core rule book for Legend of the Rive Rings. Happily, I was able to receive a copy of the fourth edition and have read through the rules cover to cover. The book itself is 400 pages filled throughout with wonderful art. The layout of the book is clean and sharp very much like Emerald Empire. The rules are broken into sections, or books, named after each of the five elemental rings.
If you’re not familiar with Legend of the Five Rings, this is a game of Samurai in a world heavily influenced by medieval Japan (and other Asian cultures) with fantasy elements such as magic and monsters added to the mix. It’s important to note that the game isn’t a strict reflection of this period as the system takes into account gender equality – something that certainly wouldn’t be historically accurate.
The characters to be played will be samurai; either bushi, courtiers or shugenja (spellcasters). Honor and Status are extremely important in the setting and will take some getting used to by players and Game Masters. This is something I’ll get into more detail about in just a bit but first let look at the layout of the core rules.
The first book – the Book of Air – deals with the setting and the history of Rokugan, which is the game world in which the action takes place. There’s loads of background info about what has gone before, as well as the 
The second book – the Book of Earth – is a breakdown of game mechanics. L5R uses a “roll and keep” system using d10 as your base dice. Much of the resolution to skills, combat, and so forth is based on this concept. Simply put, you might have a skill level of three and an attribute that that skill draws from with is also a three. This means you’ll get to roll six dice but you won’t get to total the results of all six because you can only keep as many dice as you have levels of the corresponding ring of that attribute. So if the level of your ring attribute is a three then in the aforementioned example you would roll six dice and keep three. This is designated in the rules as 6k3 and the concept becomes second nature rather quickly.
The third book – the Book of Fire – covers all aspects of character creation. Everything players need to put together their characters such which of the Great Clans to be a member, skills, spells and starting equipment. Unlike many RPGs, this is diceless generation as characters begin with the same attribute scores. These scores will be modified by each player when they choose their clan, their school of discipline, and such; once creation is complete each character will be unique.
The fourth book – the Book of Water – goes into detail about the Shadowlands, Minor Clans, various organizations, religion, and includes many optional rules that can be implemented in order to customize your gameplay.
The last book – the Book of Void – contains information solely for the Gamemaster’s use. Some of the enemies and monsters that can be encountered in Rokugan are covered here. An interesting portion of this section covers 
There’s a lot to like in L5R as each character will feel unique and there are enough small tweaks to be made to make for good role playing. Combat is certainly quick and deadly with interesting mechanics for the resolution of duels. The spells are varied and aren’t made up of just the same old same old.
Overall, Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition is an excellent rulebook. The layout is efficient, the mechanics easily picked up upon, and there’s loads of gorgeous artwork throughout. If you’re looking for a role playing game that is going to immerse you into an Asian based culture you can’t go wrong with L5R.
One last point I think is important to note is, in my opinion, L5R is not a game I would recommend for someone just breaking into RPGs or looking for a hack/slash play environment. This isn’t to say that Legends of the Five Rings isn’t a fantastic setting or rule system – far from it – but to get the most out of the game you’ll want to have a mature group of players and an experienced GM. The concepts of Honor and Status are very important and less mature players might find the social setting especially restricting – you can’t just run around doing whatever you please as every action has a consequence. The land of Rokugan is one of rich history and tradition and, for a great many role players, lots of adventure and intrigue!
[rwp-review id=”0″]
- Chivalry & Sorcery Fifth Edition Reviewed - Nov 3, 2024
- Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns Reviewed - Nov 2, 2024
- The Roleplaying Game of the Planet of the Apes Quickstart | First Look and Page-Through - Nov 1, 2024
