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The Harnish
Germany
Duisburg
NRW
Cult of The Harnish Leader
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Note: This review was originally published on my blog and is authored by Ian Kirby. I've posted it here, with his permission, since it deserves a wider audience, not to mention is still available, if and when my blog disappears.
Ian's Review
It's been a while since I last visited Rokugan. Back in the days of D&D 3rd edition, I picked up a copy of the Oriental Adventures sourcebook set in the same world. I'd never looked at the Legend of the Five Rings game itself though. Recently, I had the chance to have a look at the 4th edition PDF. What I saw encouraged me to go put and get myself a copy of the game in print.
Firstly, a comment on the PDF. I can't currently recommend this to anyone, due to page rendering issues in both Adobe Reader 9 and Foxit PDF Reader 4.1. There are a number of page errors in the latter half of the book which prevent pages from rendering. I can only reason that AEG didn't check the PDF file before uploading it to DriveThruRPG. This is not the first time I've come across poor production quality in an AEG PDF product. A shame, as the production quality of their printed material is exceptional.
That said, I think the book itself is beautiful. Hardback and stitched, with full colour throughout. The art inside the book is wonderful, commendations to all of the artists. They bring out the flavour of the setting and add to the overall quality of the product.
For those not familiar with the game, Legend of the Five Rings is a game about Samurai and the interactions of the characters in the world. The setting, Rokugan, is a world based on medieval Japan - among other Asian cultures of the period - with fantasy elements thrown in such as magic and monsters. The land stands endangered by a tainted region to the south, named the Shadowlands, which is the point where a spirit (kami) fell from the heavens and penetrated the realm of evil. The danger this region represents, together with the many inter-clan rivalries and presence of bandit Ronin, would form the basis for adventure. The concepts of honour and status are very much part of the setting, and game mechanics for both exist.
The book is separated out, like the original Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, in to five books named after the elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Void.
The first book, the Book of Air, deals with the setting and the flavour of the game. This is pretty much as described above.
The second book, the Book of Earth, explains game mechanics. The basic die mechanic uses d10s, rolling a number of dice equal to a skill + attribute total. From this pool of dice, you keep a number of the die results in order to try and beat a target number. The number of die results kept depends on elemental stats - the five rings. For example: you have 7 dice to roll given you skill and attribute ratings, but you only have a score of 2 in the element. You get to keep two of the results to try and beat the target. The die notation is 7k2, roll 7 dice and keep 2.
The third book is the Book of Fire. This goes through character creation: the Great Clans, skills, spells and equipment. There are also a number of advantages and disadvantages that can be purchased to give the character some ... well, character.
The fourth book, the Book of Water, describes the Minor Clans and other organisations or groups in the setting - such as temples, bands of Ronin and alternate rules for customising your game. It also describes the taint of the Shadowlands, a corrupting force which seduces and distorts those it corrupts.
The final book, the Book of Void, is the Gamemater's chapter. In this section, there's campaign advice and plot ideas. There's a nice piece on the differences between Asian and Western storytelling, allowing a GM to look at what makes this game different to other Fantasy roleplaying games. There's a small bestiary, describing some natural and supernatural foes. Finally, a location guide to the colour maps in the front and back covers.
I love this book - the quality of the book itself, the design, artwork and the content. Now all I need is some players. Hopefully it plays as well as it looks.
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