The L5R 4e Resource Guide: Otosan Uchi

THE L5R 4E RESOURCE GUIDE
The set-up of the new 4e L5R more easily allows the use of materials from earlier editions and eras. That raises the questions: which of these products should an L5R 4e GM bother picking up? Which of them offer new insights into the pre-Clan War period (and beyond)? Which of them offer more universally useful setting material? This series aims to answer those questions. Note that I leave aside any and all mechanical material and questions for purposes of these reviews.

OTOSAN UCHI
And here’s where everything changes. I mentioned the metaplot when I looked at Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun. That had been the first L5R supplement to really move the timeline forward or even suggest that there would be movement. In some ways, it was inevitable that they would move the world forward. At this time, the CCG had gone through several arcs and was towards the end of the Hidden Emperor and Spirit Wars episodes. As well the CCG IP was in the hands of Wizards (though they would sell it back to AEG the following year). Clan War, the L5R miniatures game had been rolled out, but wasn’t catching fire as they’d hoped. As well plans for a second edition of the core rules had already been put into place. The events of the First Core setting were decades out of date with the developing saga. However taking the step that 4e did- making the game era agnostic- wasn’t really viable. L5R had built significant history, but not enough to support that. So I understand why they pushed the rpg timeline forward.

And many players wanted this- wanted to see behind the scenes at the various stories and secrets. This and Time of the Void would answer (or at least address) many of those questions. That makes Otosan Uchi an ambitious project with a good deal riding on it. It is a boxed city set, so it has to live up to the amazing standard set by City of Lies. It puts the players in the middle of one of the most complex and significant events in Rokugan's history. And it has to do all that while allowing very different groups and parties entry into the material.

The boxed set contains three perfect bound booklets, plus two maps. The first thing you’ll likely notice on opening the box is that the books don’t fit. I don’t mean they’re tight in there, I mean they are literally jammed in there, bending them. The books are about ¼ to ⅛ of an inch too wide. That’s too bad because the box itself is nice and sturdy.

The two poster-sized maps both show the Imperial Capital of Otosan Uchi. One offers a lovely illustrative take in full color. The other’s more analytical- a top down, old school city rpg map complete with numbers for just about every building in the city. Think City State of the Invincible Overlord or Cities of Hârn. The books themselves are quite nice, with a simple cover pattern and helpful reference material on the back. A massive amount of work has gone into the product. It uses a simple two-column layout, with none of the sidebars of earlier supplements. The authors know just how complex the material is going to be and aim for clarity. The illustrations are generally pretty good and useful for showing significant NPCs and places. There could be more of them, but the product’s already massive.

Book 1: The Imperial Capital: A Location Guide: Otosan Uchi clearly breaks with the approach of City of Lies. That volume offered a loose approach, with an emphasis on story and player facing materials. NPCs were detailed and important locations noted, but the whole of the city was painted broadly to give the GM plenty of room. On the other hand, OU takes an old school approach- with almost 800 locations numbered on the map. Each chapter covers one of the districts or areas of the city- presenting its governor or important figure and a brief summary of what the area’s like. It has cut out maps from the posters. However the size of the numbered maps makes that text unreadable. Each section also has a “stat block” of traits, like population, corruption, political influence. Then locations within the area get very short write ups- averaging a paragraph or two. Not every numbered entry is covered, but there’s definitely a focus on volume over depth. GMs who like lists and completeness with appreciate this.

That’s not, however, my favorite approach. My preference is for a few key locations, well described to use for interesting stories and plots. There’s an almost tactical level sense to this approach, like the players would go door to door. The book has a eight page master index of locations (“OK, we go to #674,” “That’s a tea shop.”). Still the introductory material here offers broader material. These twelve pages include an overview of the city, articles on crime and punishment, and discussion of religion in the city. Overall the 96-page book covers a lot of ground.

Book 2: The Forbidden City: A Walking Tour: This takes a similar approach to the districts of the Ekohikei, the inner city and palace of the Hantei. However, the smaller number of districts to cover (and more interesting features available) mean that everything’s treated with greater depth. There’s some really interesting ideas and characters presented. The fifteen pages of introductory material really help explain life within these walls. Its interesting to imagine the plots and plans carried out here. A GM could easily run a Courtier/Intrigue campaign just using this. It would be a high-level, high-risk game for veteran players.

Book 3: The Scorpion’s Sting: A Game Master’s Guide to the Scorpion Clan Coup: This is an 80-page massively ambitious adventure. It details the death of the Hantei and the Fall of the Scorpion. The scenario takes an interesting approach, breaking the story into three distinct tracks. The Courtier’s Tale assumes characters within the palace itself when the plot unfolds. The Skirmisher’s Tale deals with characters within the greater city, battling the Scorpion’s infiltrators and seeking a way to save the Empire. The Soldier’s Tale deals with event outside the walls- battles, skirmishes, and the death of iconic figures (such as Doji Satsume). The last chapter in the book describes how to run the events using Clan War. The book has a section on how to connect this with previous events and bring the PCs into play. I think that’s important. The players shouldn’t feel that they’ve just stumbled into the middle of this. They should be pursuing some thread that suggests or hints at the larger problem.

The authors paint the picture broadly- suggesting events and scenes, but allowing the players plenty of room to run around. They may even shift from one track to another. GMs could run all three in parallel, with players taking on the roles of different characters. The really excellent timeline on the back cover of this volume helps keep the events straight. It ends with three pages describing the immediate aftermath of the coup’s failure.

Is it good? I’ve run it once- with the players beginning as skirmishers and moving into the palace. There are some great scenes there. I regret that my version was truncated; we had a terrible player who made the game awful for everyone else. I ended up rushing through this, to my regret. I think the adventure holds together, just barely, like a car falling to pieces as it heads downhill. And that’s awesome. The story here moved me more than I thought it would. Anyone wanting to run this should read The Scorpion: First Scroll of the Clan War by Stephen D. Sullivan. I disliked the rest of the series, but this one really managed to capture the feel of the event. It puts the Coup in broader context.

OVERALL
Of course one of the ironies of this boxed set is that Otosan Uchi gets destroyed in the later timeline. That means there are several eras in which this material won’t be that useful. Still the concepts and structures could be ported over to a new Imperial Capitol. Or the maps here could be used for players sent to explore the ruins of the city. Obviously a third of this boxed set is devoted to a highly specific event. But the remaining two-thirds offers useful concepts for the GM. Granted some of it is presented thinly, but it is still decent. Useful for GMs of many eras, but how useful will depend on the campaign. GMs running in the First Core setting will find solid hooks and characters. Obviously if you want to run the Scorpion Clan Coup, this is a must-buy. It manages to bring that chaos into focus, offering a unique campaign climax. At the time of this writing, the pdf is listed at $18, which seems a little high. AEG also offers this as a POD product, which might make an interesting option.

One final thought related to 4e. Imperial Histories presents a couple of different alternate Rokugans. If you’re looking for a place to change up events in a dramatic way, the Scorpion Clan Coup offers a nexus point. It’s where I shifted the plot of my version of the setting away from canon. In that way, GMs running the First Core setting who want a major event can twist players expectations and create their own timeline.

L5R 4e Resource Guides

First Edition Core L5R Rules/Game Master's Pack

The Way of the Dragon/Honor's Veil
The Way of the Unicorn/City of Lies
The Way of the Crab/The Book of the Shadowlands

Code of Bushido/The Way of the Crane
Twilight Honor/The Way of the Scorpion
Night of a Thousand Screams/The Way of the Lion 

Walking the Way/Tomb of Iuchiban

The Way of Shadow/Midnight's Blood 
Way of the Phoenix/Way of the Naga/GM's Pack Revised
Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun/GM's Survival Guide
Unexpected Allies/Legacy of the Forge
Bearers of Jade/Void in the Heavens 
Otosan Uchi
Merchant's Guide to Rokugan/Way of the Minor Clans
Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita/Way of the Wolf

The Week That Was Games and Iron Reviewer

OVERPOSTING or TL/DR

So I’m not under much illusion anyone pays enough attention to this blog to notice the posting frequency and such. I expect like most blogs readers check it out when a title catches their eye. That being said, I’ll explain the weirdness of January which saw nearly daily posts. Most of those dedicated to Legend of the Five Rings reviews...

Since the beginning of 2011, I’ve been part of the Iron Reviewer contest over on RPG Geek. Thirty some of us, each writing RPG reviews within a deadline. For the first year, the reviews were due once every two weeks. For the second year, we had to do them weekly. Then when 2013 arrived, it sped up to one review a day. Six of us remained for the dailies. I chose to work my way through the L5R material because I thought I could approach it from a useful angle. Plus there were three dozen items to report on. Early last week, the competition narrowed down to myself and one other survivor. I suggested we increase the pace further, upping it to two per day. He accepted and we managed that for three days. On Thursday evening, he bowed out, leaving me the only survivor of the contest after 25 months.

110 Reviews, 176,500 words, leaving me with an average review length of about 1600 words. 

So anyway, I won that contest- which means I’ll be slowly my pace on writing reviews for a bit. I’ll probably still do one a week. I also want to finish out the L5R pieces, since I only have about a half-dozen to go. In March, I begin another series of History of RPGs lists, beginning with Steampunk/Victoriana. I’ll do Post-Apocalypse after that. I also have some other articles I’ve had on the back burner and a number of other writing projects to get squared away.

Also, here’s how the games I ran last week went:

Changeling the Lost Vegas G+: The group finishes up their exploration of Sunswept Ranch. But first they have to torment their new NPC, Teodoro, more than a little. Following that they finally reach the hidden hollow, only to discover a house made of glass. Andi breaks off from the group, only to be attacked by a massive venomous crystal snake. The group converges and beats the hedge beast into splinters. They discover a second notebook page and another tarot card. Finally they return and report in to Simon Maggots, who agrees to take them on as caretakers of the facility. You can see the video here. As an added bonus, because I forget to deselect, you mostly see me, the GM, in this video. Lesson learned.

Mutants & Masterminds First Wave Series Two G+: had a session with some technical difficulties at the start (my sound card seems to have died). Put together a work around with a second computer. This was the second session, and I'd distributed some news before the game (see here). I gave them a once around where they could look into individual details and set up some investigation. I used that to reveal that Thor had not returned, but in fact was being impersonated by Loki. I think getting that out on the table for the players (but not the characters) will allow for some good role-playing. It already generated some interesting scenes. The group began to investigate one of the new designer drugs on the street- quickly identifying it as magical not conventional. They also met with the new Special Prosecutor for Heightened Crimes, Matt Murdock.

Libri Vidicos Good session. The group returned to school. Beletan had to figure out a caper to keep his romantic interest from failing her music final exams. She's a skilled pianist, but won't perform in front of anyone. One series of hijinks and illusions later and he had her secretly playing for the assessment panel. The others worked with their various NPCs- establish and finalizing links and setting up plots. Sergei has started to have the younger duelists follow in his wake; Lucy has her mechanics group; and Sokka was assigned to take over teaching a basic elements course for a week. Valmont was secretly asked by the Headmaster to bring together a new Student Council, with Valmost as his "inside man." He bribed him with the leftover equipment from the vanished Thiefly Arts instructor. As an added bonus, Lucy finally figured out how Chaining works. Now she has to come up with a way to stop it.

Last Fleet We'd had to bump the last two sessions, which is always a pain to reset from. To avoid the whole "where were we again?" and draw out discussion of plans, I went from the plan the group had decided on at the end of the last session, taking down the Orcish Mercenary Fleet they assumed would be sent to hunt them. So I started out right in the middle of things, with the group hiding in a fog bank observing their enemy's fortress and set of ships. I let them retcon preparations on the fly and come up with a plan. They ended up using some valuable magical resources they'd acquired a half dozen sessions ago to break the bonds holding a piece of skystone and send it hurtling into three of the four docked vessels.

While the rock was moving they came around and attacked from the rear of the fortress as a distraction. The hope was to slow the ship's response time to the oncoming rock of doom. They engaged a group of Elvish Dragon riders, observers from the Dominion of Timbers, hoping to co-opt their dragons, only to discover rider and dragon were bonded- a situation complicated when Chain discovered one of them was his soul-twin- the situation went off the rails and the group took damage and was forced to butcher the Dragon Riders. Some escaped to carry word back to their Emperor. The Orc Mercenaries descended on the PCs and Whet took out a Vampire Captain by distracting her with the potent lure of dragon blood- cutting her head off as she drank. Lira plucked the eye from the head of the Ratman second-in-command of the Mercs, leaving him alive to be a returning enemy. The rock hit, shattering three of the four ships and the PCs and their pirate allies stormed the flagship, the Dreadnaught Vengeance. They just barely dealt with the crew in time, while Marreg fought Cairn Stormwill, leader of the band and cursed Orckiller. Dweena fired a shot that briefly disrupted her magic items, and with a stroke, Marreg cleaved Cairn's head from her shoulders. The ship was in their hands!

The L5R 4e Resource Guide: Bearers of Jade & Void in the Heavens

THE L5R 4E RESOURCE GUIDE
The set-up of the new 4e L5R more easily allows the use of materials from earlier editions and eras. That raises the questions: which of these products should an L5R 4e GM bother picking up? Which of them offer new insights into the pre-Clan War period (and beyond)? Which of them offer more universally useful setting material? This series aims to answer those questions. Note that I leave aside any and all mechanical material and questions for purposes of these reviews.

BEARERS OF JADE
I’m a big fan of J-Horror in its modern versions (Kairo, Ringu, Ju-On). I also like the ancestors of those pictures- classical Japanese scary movies set in the samurai period (Onibaba, Kuroneko, Kwaidan, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan). They incorporate subtle supernatural elements- the power of hauntings and the presence of spirits and ghosts in everyday life. Consider the testimony of the spirit in the otherwise real world film Rashamon. On the other hand, the scary stuff on display in Legend of the Five Rings so far has tended to be unsubtle. The Shadowlands and Fu Leng are awful and grotesque. They’re part Cthulhu, part Cronenberg, part Zombie-fest. The most quiet and insidious portions of that come from the interactions and corruptions of people who come into contact with that. Bearers of Jade: The Second Book of the Shadowlands doesn’t change that up entirely. But it does add some more creepy and traditional elements to the mix.

The book is a hefty 152 pages softcover. Interestingly this is written by the husband and wife team of Jennifer Brandes and Chris Hepler. Hepler’s only other L5R credit is as a contributor to Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun. I’m always a little surprised when I see key books like these in the hands of freelancers who haven’t worked much on the line before. They take an interesting approach to the text- creating a composite of rules, stories, descriptions, and fragmentary testimonies. The book as a whole feels like a patchwork and that’s deliberate. Just as the original Book of the Shadowlands had an “original author,” this is said to be the journal of the ronin Shugenja, Seikansha.

To that end the pages are design with a light grey-scaled background to make it look like a scroll. It switches between single and double column formatting. While there’s some GM material in the text, the “in world” writing is supplemented by sidebars with GM notes and details. That way the pages can be copied as a handout and the extra material cut away. In days of pdfs, you’ll probably be printing these pages out. The problem with that comes from the page design. The sidebars are white text on a dark grey background. This can make them hard to read and even harder on printer ink. The designers clearly wanted the book to appear dark, but it ends up looking more murky and unfriendly than evocative. The interior artwork doesn’t help much either. While there are a couple of striking pieces, much of the rest is messy and ugly.

After the introduction and a great little snippet taken from a stage play, the book’s broken into six major chapters plus a fairly long appendix. The chapters themselves mix many presentation styles which means most GMs will be able to find something useful and interesting (and then again, there’s the flip side of that…)

Life at the Mouth of Hell: This is one of my favorite chapters in the book. It considers what it must be like living just outside the Shadowlands. What effect does that have on people? What kinds of things make it through or prey on those who man the Carpenter Wall? It presents some interesting ideas on how the Crab live and deal with the fact of the Taint. Beyond that how that Taint can manifest not as a physical malady but as insidious mental illness.

The Tarnished Lands: This offers a few more locations in and around the Shadowlands, adding to the material presented in The Book of the Shadowlands. I especially like the concept of the dangerous resource places the Crab must use, like mines, which lie just at the edge of the corruption. As few of the new places given here are genuinely creepy.

Lost Relics: A large collection of cursed and haunted items, many with connected plot hooks? Where do I sign? Another highly useful source of stories and adventures for the GM. Some of the testimonies connected with the items really establishes an insidious tone. I can imagine GMs creating an entire Warehouse 13 campaign in Rokugan with the players hunting down and disposing of sinister artifacts.

Fu Leng’s Army: More monsters, more Oni. A couple of these are excellent because they are restrained- creatures which can make their way into greater Rokugan to wreak havoc. Some of them have a strong folkloric feel to them. The Shuten Doji makes its appearance here- an infectious oni creature. I’m still not sure what I think of it. Sometimes it seems over-the-top to me and more powerful than any other monster in the setting. And sometimes I just get chills when I think about it.

Workers of Maho: There’s some really interesting considerations of the Bloodspeakers here, especially in the selections from the play “Virtue.” This chapter manage to add some more depth and dimension to these adversaries, again expanding on the concepts from the earlier Shadowlands volume.

Lost Souls: This is a single long piece considering the corruption and fall of a solider within the Fu Leng's realm. I don’t want to say more than that.

Appendices: The Shadowlands Campaign: This is the most mechanical of the chapters. It includes some monster stats & powers as well as suggestions for modifying the mass battle system to handle battles against Shadowlands armies. It also includes the goofy Crab martial art- a concept that has always seemed just an excuse to give every clan a sweet unarmed specialty. There are also some new maho spells.

OVERALL
I like smart book design- especially when that design helps create atmosphere. L5R 4e, Vornheim, and most Pelgrane Press products achieve this. But even at their most indulgent, they still make the material useful and accessible. The design doesn’t get in the reader’s way. Here it does more than a little. The material itself is strong. Despite everything this is an awesome read- like a weird and wild dictionary of horrors. Open it at any page and you’ll find something creepy, cool, or both. Some of it echoes the earlier Shadowlands concepts, but there’s more than enough new ideas and plot hooks to make it worth buying. It is useful for L5R GMs of all eras, supplementing material from the L5R 4e core book and Enemies of the Empire.

VOID IN THE HEAVENS
There’s a certain irony to putting out a module based around the Scorpion Clan, shortly before you publish a module which will essentially blow up the Scorpion Clan in the setting. But that's not the reasons this is hands down my least favorite L5R module. Allow me to explain…

Let’s start with the presentation. This is a 48-page perfect bound module. The cover’s OK and doesn’t give anything away. However, someone decided that the title font ought to be Pepto-Bismol Pink. I’m not a great judge of color- I have to ask my wife what paints to use when we do miniatures. But I do know when something makes my eyes ache. The problems with the illustrations continue on the interior. Ben Peck’s has a couple of good pieces here, but more that don’t work: dark and messy. Even the usually reliable Cris Dornaus turns in rushed looking pieces. A couple of the images are repeated. There’s liberal use of half and full page pictures. Between that and the wider than usual text design, it feels like they're trying to fill out the page count. Honestly this module could have been done with half the space. Then they could have had a second adventure, as they did with Midnight’s Blood and Honor’s Veil. Instead when I read this I have the distinct sense that corners have been cut.

The story itself has an odd set-up. The group must begin with no outstanding enmity towards the Scorpion Clan (a point specified in the text). They begin heading to Kyuden Shosuro for "reasons." On route, they stumble across the incident in question and become involved. There’s some pretty tangled logic here- keeping the Scorpion from killing the players to keep them quiet, and allowing them to become involved in Scorpion affairs. Your Rokugan May Vary. Let’s set that question aside for the moment.

The basic premise is that the Oracle of Fire is about to pass on his mantle. He’s selected an eta to hand it off to. A Shosuro representative comes to ask the Oracle a question. She decides to seduce the Oracle and convince him that he should pass on the mantle to her. She succeeds at the first part, but fails at the second. So now the Oracle’s pissed and wants to burn the Scorpion to the ground. The adventure itself is broken into ten scenes, pretty highly scripted. However, there are numerous opportunities for the PCs to go off-script and get themselves killed.

The characters arrive to find fire engulfing a Village. They see the Oracle but are unsure what his role is. There’s some nice action here with the players having to organize the village to put out the inferno. The PCs can then head on to Kyuden Shosuro (or do a difficult search for the Oracle, which skips them forward a scene). At the castle they see more evidence of the Oracle’s ravages, but Scorpion representatives deflect their questions. Eventually there’s a weird meeting in which the Scorpions ask for the PCs help, after the Clan's made statements implicating themselves in the problem. The module then explains to the GM: “Of course everything the Scorpions tell the party is a lie. It is important at this stage that it should all be very believable.”

Have you ever met a PC who would buy this?

You know what would have been interesting? If the Scorpions were telling the truth, the victims of some conspiracy or outside attack. Then the story could have been about the players trying to overcome their natural inclinations to aid the Scorpion. There could still have been a sting in the tail- you righteously help them, but there’s some unpleasant cost along the line. But at least the GM wouldn’t have to treat the players like idiots and railroad them.

So the PCs head off to the mountain of fire the next day, making their way through environmental obstacles. They reach the Oracle of Fire and have a chance to question him. He is, of course, a little omnipotent and a little mad. That’s a great combination for PCs who just marched through hell. Once they get to the Oracle and properly comport themselves, they can untangle some of the threads. That could be an interesting scene. The book lists typical questions and responses. On the other hand, if the party attacks the Oracle, he kills them instantly. There’s really only solid outcome here- with the group delivering the Oracle’s terms and/or finding the eta girl.

The story continues on, with some oddly transparent machinations on from the Scorpion. They would like to kill the eta and blame the party. There are some decisions to be made and if they cross the Shosuro, the daimyo will have them killed. They have to protect the girl and eventually…let me just cut to the chase here. The Scorpion have a weapon to kill the Oracle and transfer his energy. The players either help with that or stop it. The execution of that feels more than a little goofy- the clearly right choice has a pretty dramatic cost to the group in terms of enemies.

OVERALL
There are other, much better modules for L5R. This one is adaptable, but I think to make compelling would require some serious work and effort. It plays into the worst tropes and stereotypes of the Scorpion- fulfilling all expectations. There’s a strange discounting of the sacred nature of the Oracles by the Scorpion. I understand their practicality, but it doesn’t necessarily ring true, especially as a plan executed at the highest level of the clan.

L5R 4e Resource Guides

First Edition Core L5R Rules/Game Master's Pack

The Way of the Dragon/Honor's Veil
The Way of the Unicorn/City of Lies
The Way of the Crab/The Book of the Shadowlands

Code of Bushido/The Way of the Crane
Twilight Honor/The Way of the Scorpion
Night of a Thousand Screams/The Way of the Lion 

Walking the Way/Tomb of Iuchiban

The Way of Shadow/Midnight's Blood 
Way of the Phoenix/Way of the Naga/GM's Pack Revised
Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun/GM's Survival Guide
Unexpected Allies/Legacy of the Forge
Bearers of Jade/Void in the Heavens 
Otosan Uchi
Merchant's Guide to Rokugan/Way of the Minor Clans
Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita/Way of the Wolf

The L5R 4e Resource Guide: Unexpected Allies & Legacy of the Forge

THE L5R 4E RESOURCE GUIDE
The set-up of the new 4e L5R more easily allows the use of materials from earlier editions and eras. That raises the questions: which of these products should an L5R 4e GM bother picking up? Which of them offer new insights into the pre-Clan War period (and beyond)? Which of them offer more universally useful setting material? This series aims to answer those questions. Note that I leave aside any and all mechanical material and questions for purposes of these reviews.

UNEXPECTED ALLIES
I love NPCs. I’ve said it before, but at least in my campaigns, NPCs are the engine that makes the game run. Not that they take the spotlight or “Mary Sue” the PCs, but that they offer the best method for introducing complications, creating connections, and showing off the world. I remember excitedly picking up Unexpected Allies at Origins, ’99 I think. I read through the whole thing on the car ride home. It is a volume filled with promise, some of which it lives up to, but not all.

Unexpected Allies is primarily an NPC sourcebook and a resource on handling those characters. It is an 128-page perfect-bound book with material from many contributors. L5R veterans Patrick Kapera & Ree Soesbee compiled the volume, with thirty contributors listed. William O’Connor delivers a cool and energetic cover. However only some of the artwork inside lives up to that. Quite a few character illustrations are pretty 'meh' as are some of the incidental pieces. The book has a clean design generally. It has three major parts: game fiction, an overview section on NPCs, and then 40+ NPCs grouped by Clan or affiliation.

In some ways the stories for each NPC serve as a kind of game fiction. They allude to and explain events in the setting. But the book starts with a longer eight-page story finally illuminating the story behind the Ronin Ginawa and his fall. It is a pretty classic tale, and since Ginawa appears in the core book narratives, there’s a connection there.

INTRODUCTION: This material, running from page 14 through 33, has six major sections. It also has five new ancestors described in text boxes.

• Villains, Villains Everywhere: Talks about ways to make villains more ambiguous, or at least understandable within the context of Rokugan and Bushido. Though it doesn’t explicitly address the idea of dramatic tension (ala McKee) arising from the difference between internal and external drives, it asks the GM to consider an NPCs presentation versus their actual self. L5R is a game where the players have to get used to being lied to- something some groups have a problem with. The section also offers advice on distinguishing between Honor, Glory, and Loyalty, often confused concepts. 
• Allies and Enemies: There’s a good discussion on making believable NPCs. That’s often an overlooked virtue. GMs can make striking or interesting NPCs, but they have to have a life beyond that surface. They need to make sense in the context of the setting. How have they survived and prospered? This also offer ideas for making NPC memorable through physical details and quirks. 
• Motives: Following from the first section, this considers how to define an NPC’s motives. Needs shouldn’t be static cut0outs. They have needs and desires, often at odds with the PCs. The question is how to play out and explicate those for the players. 
• Crime and the Emerald Empire: This is an odd section to appear here- I would have expected it in the GM’s Survival Guide or one of the Winter Court books. But the material is welcome- defining various kinds of common crimes. I especially like the list of “Things Which Can Be Forged in Rokugan.” You could get a number of great sessions out of that. This material will be of use to most Magistrate-based games. 
• Creating and Using NPCs: Talks about common set-ups for introducing new characters and examples of different villain archetypes. There are three tables at the end, two of miscellaneous quirks and one for generating motivations.

THE NPCS: This runs from page 35 through the end of the book. Each NPC is presented with a full character sheet page and a facing page with a background write up and an illustration. UA groups these entries by clan, with a few for each of the Great Clans, plus a section for Ronin and a section of miscellaneous NPCs. Unexpected Allies comes out before Way of the Minor Clans and Way of the Wolf so it can’t fully take advantage of the material presented there. In general this structure resembles the NPCs presented in each of the “Way of…” books, except these have specific names and histories. The character sheet portion’s set up a little differently; I’m not sure if it is better or worse. Instead of a discussion of motivations or role-playing, the text portion is pure narrative history. That’s not nearly as useful.

I understand some of the purpose here. They want to present stories, because they’re showcasing the details behind some of the iconic characters from the CCG and background (Sanzo, Naka Kuro, and Dairya for example). They also suggest that this could be a resource for ready-made PCs, but that seems like a more remote use of the book. The entries themselves are uneven- a couple of histories that hit the same beats, some of the stories more interesting (as you’d expect). More importantly, there’s a missed opportunity. Why do we need the full space for the character sheet? Couldn’t that have been done just as easily with a stat block. If they did that, they could then add 2-3 plot hooks for each of the NPCs. Walking the Way did very well with this approach. Here, since this is a GM facing sourcebook, they wouldn’t have the problem of player material next to adventure ideas. Story concepts with each NPC would make this book immensely more useful.

OVERALL
The open nature of this book makes it pretty useful for L5R GMs of any era. The character sheets are the mechanical part of the book, so that’s about 40 pages you can skip. The character background stories could be adapted if you needed a quick concept. But generally I think GMs love making up NPCs- at least most GMs I know. So if you've going to present me with NPCs, I need some value-added. What I want is clear and playable material- hooks and adventure concepts to go with them or at least more depth than just their history. That’s what makes something like the Citybooks great- they take that next step in presenting NPCs.

LEGACY OF THE FORGE
Most Legend of the Five Rings adventures are fairly timeless. They have situations and details which can be moved or adapted to many different eras. Even those which reference iconic heroes (Hida Yakomo, Yoritomo) can easily replaced those since they aren’t crucial to the story. A few larger adventure supplements fall outside that. But most of the smaller “story packs” exist independently. Legacy of the Forge feels like the first deeply connected history and is strongly tied to a previous adventure, "Silence Within the Sound." The death of the Lion Clan champion, Akodo Arasou haunts this adventure, literally and figuratively. Is the adventure strong, and can it be adapted to other eras?

The story turns on the activities of Shikken Tankenka, a key NPC from “Silence Within Sound.” In the time between this adventure and the last, he’s been promoted as an Imperial Agent and has been looking into various issues. That brings up one oddness- you can’t play this story immediately after the previous one. The material assumes a gap of several months at the very least. That will work for some campaigns, but if you have a time-lapse adverse group it may pose a logistical difficulty. Essentially Tankenka has been following the activities of a particular Scorpion instigator. The book nicely details these incidents so they can be worked into the background of the campaign (at least one of them relates to rumors given in Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun).

BTW there’s a moment in the set up of the module that does bug me a little. Speaking of the villain, it says, “…there is indeed a method to her madness. Though her long-term objective is beyond the scope of this adventure (and therefore not detailed here)..” Um. That might be useful and important information for the GM to know. I’m assuming, without referencing the Otosan Uchi boxed set, that it is prologue for the Scorpion Clan Coup. If that’s the case, then tell us that. If it isn’t, at least give us something to work with.

The set-up and story for the adventure’s plot covers eight pages- pretty huge by standards of modules. The conspiracy in question is complicated, with a lot of double-cross, misunderstood details, and so on. It looks good on paper- but it may be overly complicated and confusing for players I practice. They will probably only see fragments of this larger picture- enough to take decisive action. I fear that it might lead to one of my least favorite GM syndromes, the “What Was Really Happening” speech telling the players all of the stuff they missed or couldn’t see. DON’T DO THAT. That’s an important piece of advice for this module and any other game.

The actual story begins with the group receiving a summons from Tankenka (there’s a handout in the book) calling them to Toshi Ranbo. They’re to serve as his assistants in the current negotiations between the Lion and Crane. As an Imperial Regent, Tankenka might actually have the pull to call the PCs in like this. The hook here is reasonable and probably won’t be too much of a problem. It’s also worth noting that, as written, this adventure will kill players.

What follows is an adventure broken into four acts, each with many sub-events and scenes. The module’s 64 page, perfect bound, longer than any of the previous story packs. The layouts crisp and clean; the pages look good. Patrick Kapera’s writing’s clear, despite the complexity of the plot involved. I would have liked a one-page summary or key information sheet. There’s some boxed text, but less so than some of the hand-holding of the first L5R modules. The art’s good, but a few pieces are more evocative than useful. I like my art to double as handouts- so images or scenes or specific NPCs. There’s still a good deal of that here. The floor plans and maps are especially well done.

Act One: Toshi Ranbo: The PCs arrive in the midst of battle and have to make their way inside the walls. There’s a nice mix of direct heroic opportunities in battle and alternatives which avoid conflict. The enter into a chaotic situation. Searching through they encounter ghostly advice. But the situation gets more and more complicated. There’s a lot of the players to do- but much of it involves them simply trying to survive, making it a very reaction sequence. That’s especially true with the ending which has a death which the players essentially cannot prevent.

Act Two: Shiro Sano Ken Hayai: The players begin to investigate what set off this crisis and the nature of the strange supernatural events they have seen. There’s reference to a number of First Core setting characters and events- who actually have a significant connection to the plot. The material here is open-ended- with the players have several directions and lines of inquiry to pursue. Eventually they spring a trap which reveals more about their situation.

Act Three: Across the Plains of Battle: With information in hand, the players seek out a hidden scroll they need to stop the threat. This is a scripted act which leads the group from incident to incident. There are some moral questions (with only one real solution) and, of course, an Oni.

Act Four: Shiro no Yojin: Once again the players arrive just as a battle begins. They have to negotiate their way in and then eventually go to war. The scenario includes notes on running these battles (using the mass battle system of the core book or via Clan War). There’s some cool stuff here and the players can bring a halt to this plot. But, of course, the main bad guy escapes, which seems a little weak.

OVERALL
This module has really interesting ideas for GMs running in the First Core setting. It has some elements drawn specifically from the background of that period. However, I don’t think that presents a huge obstacle to adapting it to another period (or even another set of warring Clans). More problematic is how scripted and involved the plot is. Key sections restrict player autonomy in a way that some groups may not like, especially when it happens multiple times. I enjoyed reading the module, but I’m less interested in running it.

L5R 4e Resource Guides

First Edition Core L5R Rules/Game Master's Pack

The Way of the Dragon/Honor's Veil
The Way of the Unicorn/City of Lies
The Way of the Crab/The Book of the Shadowlands

Code of Bushido/The Way of the Crane
Twilight Honor/The Way of the Scorpion
Night of a Thousand Screams/The Way of the Lion 

Walking the Way/Tomb of Iuchiban

The Way of Shadow/Midnight's Blood 
Way of the Phoenix/Way of the Naga/GM's Pack Revised
Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun/GM's Survival Guide
Unexpected Allies/Legacy of the Forge
Bearers of Jade/Void in the Heavens 
Otosan Uchi
Merchant's Guide to Rokugan/Way of the Minor Clans
Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita/Way of the Wolf

The L5R 4e Resource Guide: Winter Court- Kyuden Seppun & GM's Survival Guide

THE L5R 4E RESOURCE GUIDE
The set-up of the new 4e L5R more easily allows the use of materials from earlier editions and eras. That raises the questions: which of these products should an L5R 4e GM bother picking up? Which of them offer new insights into the pre-Clan War period (and beyond)? Which of them offer more universally useful setting material? This series aims to answer those questions. Note that I leave aside any and all mechanical material and questions for purposes of these reviews.

WINTER COURT: KYUDEN SEPPUN
This volume finally made the Rokugan setting click for me. I’d played Bushido and Ninja HERO over the years. So I already really loved the samurai genre by the time the L5R CCG came out. I was playing miniatures at the time and adapted the setting for skirmishes (before Clan War came out). Eventually I collected the rpg and liked it, but didn’t love it yet. City of Lies and the Book of the Shadowlands were pretty awesome, but it didn’t quite gel for me. But WC: Kyuden Seppun with its combination of fiction about iconic characters, world background, and new mechanics brought it together for me.

It might be where the line develops its own identity- not beholden to classic fantasy, to AD&D’s Oriental Adventures, or to historical games. Of course some people don’t care for that identity. I’ve read some historically-minded objections to the setting over the years- including from Japanese players. The latter found the names and ideas weird and borderline offensive. But I’ve also heard that same criticism leveled at Castle Falkenstein by Europeans; some of the Old West games from Europe seem odd to me. I’m also reminded how Western characters are usually presented in some of my favorite mange and anime (fat & stupid or boobilicious). That’s not to say some concepts in L5R don’t work for me. The list would be fairly long: the Naga, the Kolat, the Spider Clan, the Crab Alliance with Fu Leng, and so on. But those are elements I can downplay or excise. The larger concept of Rokugan I find compelling. And at least at the time of WC: Kyuden Seppun, I grew interested in the metaplot.

WC: KS is really the first book to set that plot in motion. The Clan Books put all of the pieces out on the table, while this hints at what’s to come. There’s an odd thing with this First Core period, especially if you know the history- you know that there will be the Scorpion Clan Coup, the Clan Wars, and then the Second Day of Thunder. The real question is how much time the game will take getting there (answer: surprisingly little). I’m of two minds on metaplot. I like it when it adds flavor and ideas to the setting. Some of the developments in the classic World of Darkness lines and the Poor Wizard’s Almanacs for Mystara do this well. But metaplots tend to fragment a game in the long run- with blow-up points that drastically alter the setting. After these, the material has to take those events into consideration, making them more difficult to use for original adopters. Of course, that’s the whole reason for this series- with L5R finally breaking out of the metaplot trap to some extent. Even though WC: Kyuden Seppun puts the writing on the wall that change is coming, I still like it. The detail and texture it adds to the game make it worth it.

Take for example the interim fiction, “A Dangerous Game.” It plays out a story we already know- the events are well in the past. It doesn’t depict the Seppun Winter Court, but demonstrates courtly events. More strikingly, it manages to make two iconic figures from L5R- Bayushi Kachiko and Doji Hoturi- into compelling characters. Both of them had always seemed like tools and fan-service, until I read this and gained more sympathy for them.

Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun is about the length of one of the Way of the Clan volumes, 120 pages. It follows the typical L5R design, simple two column layout with some page framing. There’s a greyscale watermark on the pages, but it isn’t too obtrusive. It does away with sidebars for commentary, allowing more page space. Instead notes and inserts are done through text boxes. The artwork’s quite good throughout. The writing’s good and feels consistent despite heading all over the place. This isn’t a guide to running Courtly adventurers, though some of that is discussed. Instead it is a smart grab-bag of cultural details, history, plot points, and new concepts. It is divided into four sections, loosely tied by theme. There’s the running fiction through the volume I mentioned above.

Dawn (14-43) An excellent collection of bits, much of it revolving around the idea of nobility and the Emperor’s family. The discussion of political ranks and what they mean in this culture is especially useful. Just as importantly, the material drills down and explains the structure of the Imperial House and formally introduces the Otomo, Miya, and Seppun families to the setting.

Afternoon (46-69) This opens with a general discussion of what a Winter Court looks like, and the different kinds. It then moves on to considered more deeply the important customs of Rokugan: Seppuku, Warfare, Duels, Arts, Tea Ceremony, and Flower symbology among others. There’s a lengthy discussion of funerals- suggesting details for a great in-game scene. Finally there’s a look at the seasons and the festivals associated with them. Adventure hooks and NPCs appear as text boxes.

Night (72-89) Covers more intimate matters, beginning with questions of love and marriage. After a couple of side bits, it presents an overview of important events which occurred during the year and at the Court. These include battles and the Crab’s conflict with the Falcoln Clan, reference to the events of modules (particularly Code of Bushido), and the tension between the Akodo and Matsu. The section ends with a quick overview of Rokugan’s history.

Epilogue (92-120) The previous sections have been notably mechanics free. This chapter offers new options: ancestors, skills, and imperial family schools. It also has write-ups for important Imperial and related NPCs. Rumors of developments suggest plot hooks for the coming year. Finally three pages of floorplans for Kyuden Seuppun close out the book.

OVERALL
This is a solid and interesting book. A good deal of the general material has been integrated into the 4e sourcebooks. It would take a closer reading to see what hasn’t yet appeared. Regardless, it is a good primer to some key ideas- and a reminder about how useful these background elements can be to developing stories or adding color to a scenario. GMs who wish to run in the First Core setting will find this an essential purchase.

GAME MASTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE
I love a good “meta” reference book for a setting. I especially like them when they arrive late in a game’s development. By that time the authors have had time to see what the game looks like in the wild. GM/Storyteller (or whatever name you use) volumes published in conjunction or close to the core book feel a little like a cheat. (I feel the same way about Player Companions, something WW’s been guilty of in the past). An ideal GM book provides insight to the setting, GMing advice specific to the world, a modest amount of new mechanics, tools for designing adventures, color details, how to handle typical problems, and campaign frame concepts. So of my favorites of these have been Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!! for Cyberpunk; Comme Il Faut for Castle Falkenstein; and the Mage Storytellers Handbook. I have plenty of others I own, like the Mastermind’s Manual, that I rarely if ever look at- since they don’t spark ideas for me.

The Game Master’s Survival Guide, thankfully, falls into the category of useful supplements. I can’t confirm the subtitle “1001 Campaign Hints, Tips, and Answers,” but it feels pretty close. At 160 pages, it is one of the largest of the early L5R books. Jim Pinto’s the primary designer on this supplement, an AEG stalwart who contributed to many lines (7th Sea, Swashbuckling Adventures, d20). The credits list an additional ten contributors, which doesn’t entirely surprise me. There’s a deliberately conversational tone to the book, along with some shifts in the author’s voice from section to section. Text design returns to the standard two columns plus sidebars of most of the line. The artwork’s decent throughout- generic images and illustrations. That’s fitting. Carl Frank’s cover is a little stiff, but works. Overall the book realizes that it has a ton of material to deliver and it does its best to do that quickly and cleanly.

Each of the book's five sections (corresponding to an element) has several chapters with subsections. There’s no game fiction in this volume, and much of it is written generically enough to be used in any era without too much effort. In some ways, the Survival Guide reminds me of the new line for L5R- The Book of Earth and The Book of Air. Those however have more mechanical bits to them and a tighter focus on ideas associated with that particular element.

The Book of Earth: Focuses on daily life. Sidebars include further details as well as adventure hooks. The Emerald Empire: has an important discussion of economic. And not the stupid fake-text stuff from the Merchant’s Guide to Rokugan, but real concepts about what money and wealth mean to PCs and others. The Land: Covers travel, flora and fauna. Some of the same material covered in the Emerald Empire sourcebook. Good details on villages and village life. The People: How people actually live- including farmers, ronin, and townsfolk. Details on what homes of all classes look like. Habits & Lifestyle: How to handle greetings, names, and initial meetings. What “unclean” means in practical terms. Religion: Distinctions between Ancestor, Fortunes, and Shinseism. Food: Several pages of cool detail on what people eat & drink and why.

The Book of Water: Ideas for helping the players figure out their characters. Methods of Character: Expands the original “Twenty Questions” from the core book. Has an important sidebar about the GM’s duty to make each of the clans cool. Offers guidance for creating a campaign handout to brief the players. Ideas for running games with just two players. Mechanical Character Design: Starting the players with truly novice characters. Suggestions for methods to balance PCs. The idea of bidding for or limiting the most common advantages is quite cool and something I’ve used. There’s also a table of all of the 1e character options published so far.

The Book of Fire: This is a more mechanical section and so of less use to 4e players. It is notable for being where L5R starts to do a better job of distinguishing the clans on the basis of the honor gains and losses in connection with the virtues. That clarified the differences. It helped to show what they valued- and how that balanced out. There’s a nice section on armor preparation, but most everything else in this chapter is superseded by or subsumed within the 4e rules.

The Book of Air: This section considers how the GM handles samurai situations at the table. Samurai Ethics: Right away the book takes on the difficult question of when to roll and when to role-play. It points out that GMs need to find a balance between these- not rewarding the socially astute player over the socially inept player who has actually bought the skills. This is a controversial idea. I’m not sure I agree with all of the advice given here. The more important function is to draw the GM’s attention to what may be a reflexive ruling on their part. Styles of Play: Considers the different modes GM use in running: abstract vs. detailed; reactive vs. active; improvisational. Does a good job of laying out what those mean without offering a judgment. During the Game/Troubleshooting: General GM advice, including handling player death. Handling NPCs: A great section. It considers typical roles within each of the classes (Samurai Chancellor, Heimin Budoka, Hinn Entertainer). For each it gives a definition, typical skills, and an adventure hook. A great resource and place to hunt for story ideas. It complements that with ideas on how to present NPCs and make players remember them. Using the CCG with the RPG: One of the longest sections of the book (14 pages). It considers how a GM might randomize cards and draw them to create an adventure. It isn’t a terrible idea- and it might be interesting to make a random table or program based on this. Creatures of Rokugan: About a page on standard animals such as bears and wolves.

The Book of Void: Ideas for campaign building. The sidebars here are especially good, especially the concept of the rarity and importance of nobility in this setting. (Although it glosses over the implications of that disparity in power and wealth). Campaign Structure: Suggestions for different campaign forms and what they entail. Considering what “epic” means in L5R. Some suggestions for alternate Rokugans (not unlike those presented in Imperial Histories). Adventure Structure: The different themes and how they fit with L5R. A long section exploring the “36 Plots” and how they would be played out in a samurai setting. Ideas for adventure complications. Suggestions for how to write out these notes. The First Adventure: General advice as well as some specific hooks GMs can use. The Great Sleep: How to end a story arc.

Appendix: Starts off with some author’s notes and suggested reading/viewing. There’s a great set of random tables to use as a settlement generator. Then tables for random encounters, merchant caravans, characters in an inn, names, and gifts. It wraps up with four pages of maps and floorplans and a blank scroll sheet.

OVERALL
This is a solid book for GMs of any era. It doesn’t offer specifics for the First Core setting, if that’s what you’re specifically hunting for. It does offer good GM advice and some tools for building adventures. Some of the earlier material does appear in the later 4e books, but enough doesn’t to make it a worthwhile purchase.

L5R 4e Resource Guides

First Edition Core L5R Rules/Game Master's Pack

The Way of the Dragon/Honor's Veil
The Way of the Unicorn/City of Lies
The Way of the Crab/The Book of the Shadowlands

Code of Bushido/The Way of the Crane
Twilight Honor/The Way of the Scorpion
Night of a Thousand Screams/The Way of the Lion 

Walking the Way/Tomb of Iuchiban

The Way of Shadow/Midnight's Blood 
Way of the Phoenix/Way of the Naga/GM's Pack Revised
Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun/GM's Survival Guide
Unexpected Allies/Legacy of the Forge
Bearers of Jade/Void in the Heavens 
Otosan Uchi
Merchant's Guide to Rokugan/Way of the Minor Clans
Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita/Way of the Wolf

First Wave: Series Two: Session Two News

The news briefings I gave out for this week's session of our Mutants & Masterminds 2e campaign (wiki here). 

TOUGH ON SUPER CRIME

Governor ------ announced the formation of a new prosecutorial taskforce dealing with super-powered crime and criminals. “We’ve moved to a more intelligent and prepared approach on the enforcement side of things: better training, clear procedures, advanced equipment supplied by Homeland Security. But at the same time we need to be able to handle the special challenges to actually convicting these lawbreakers once they’ve been captured.” He announced the selection of noted Attorney Matthew Murdock to the newly created role. Murdock, a veteran of numerous high-profile prosecutions of organized crime figures, was widely expected to be the Governor’s top pick. As the new Special Prosecutor for Heightened Crimes he will have both investigative and prosecutorial authority in cases throughout New York State, but especially in NYC itself. Various agencies and groups supporting equal treatment for those with disabilities praised the decision. Despite being blind since a childhood accident, Murdock graduated top of his class.

VALHALLA RISING

In a quickly called press conference, First Wave confirmed that they managed to rescue several hostages from the clutches of the Occult Crime network known as The Circle of Thorns. In recent weeks the Circle had unleashed a crime wave which left at least a dozen dead and many more injured. Though their ultimate purpose remains a mystery, the group assured reporters that they and their ceremonies had been brought to a halt. Mr. Freeze then stunned reporters when he announced the return of the Mighty Thor, presumed lost in during the Starro incident. He brought the Norse superhero forth to a standing ovation from the gathered press corps. Thor took questions for nearly an hour, assuring the public that his return signaled the continued safety of NYC and “all the those who dwell in Midgard.”

DRUG DESIGNS

Authorities are warning a new wave of dangerous designer drugs which seems to be sweeping clubs and campuses across the Eastern Seaboard. DEA Special officer Hunter Cash warned that at least two new and distinctive drugs have been responsible for several deaths and multiple collapses leading to coma. “The power vacuum in the wake of the Starro incident allowed a number of smaller and more creative producers access higher end and boutique markets. These aren’t ordinary street drugs, but expensive and potent experiences which deadly side effects. Pigment aka Blacklight is a powerful and subtle hallucinogenic which seems to remain in users bloodstreams for many days, leading to recurring and uncontrollable flashbacks even more intense than the original experience. On the other hand, provided little hard information on the other drug they’d issued a bulletin on X-Static aka Broadcast. Pressed on the matter, Cash would only say that work and investigation into the nature and source of that drug was ongoing.

MUTANT THUGS

NYPD announced the capture of several members of a strange underground street gang which has been involved in petty theft, property damage, trespassing, and other crimes. Though authorities would not release details, they confirmed that members of the gang seemed to be linked by being self-described “mutants,” dwelling in the city’s subways and other underground networks. One inside source indicated that these Subterrans may be connected to a break-ins across the city which resulted in tagging and minor damage, but no other real effects. Targets have ranged from shopping malls to galleries to high-tech firms. “We believe that such break-ins using their Mutant powers have been used as a ‘rite-of-passage’ for these gang members,” the source said.

GIVE TIL IT HURTS

Flashman Productions announced the lineup for the upcoming two-day Take Back the Star(ros) Benefit Concert. Featuring the vocal stylings of Nicky Minaj, Nickelback, Flo Rida, and many others the concert series promises to be a spectacle concert-goers will remember for years to come. Older enthusiasts will be treated to a special separate concert featuring the cast of the film Les Mis performing selections from the musical on stage. Asked which cast members had confirmed, Flashman said, “That will be a special surprise. I can tell you that my partners at TicketMaster and I have cooked up an amazing set of programs which charitably minded fans of music can easily purchase tickets for on stage.” Flashman indicated that some of New York’s most famous superheroes would also be making a special appearance at some of the shows, though for reasons of security he could not say which at this time.

SLASHER SLAYINGS

NYC Homicide confirmed that they believe latest brutal slashing murder in the Candle Heights is connected to two others in the area. The crimes in the most Hispanic neighborhood have attracted attention for their brutality and apparent speed. Until recently they’d believe the crimes might be connected to the Circle of Thorns cult-style slayings and kidnappings. However First Wave’s capture of the organization and forensic evidence seems to rule that out. The rash of crimes has put many on edge and exacerbated tensions between the police and local residents.

DEFENSE CONTRACTS

Hammer Industries and OsCorp announced a new series of defense contracts for the Department of Homeland security today. While several of the projects remain classified, most clearly relate to dealing with superhuman and alien threats. “We have long-term plans for dealing with these kinds of assaults on our liberties in the future,” Hammer CEO Justin Hammer said at a brief but flashy press conference. It remains unclear what percentage of the projects are aimed at domestic security versus more military applications. Sources within both companies indicated that they’d been provided with a broad mandate. In particular, Homeland Security has reauthorized development of the STALKER robotic security initiative that had been cancelled five years ago at OsCorp.

RETURN OF THE APE

A series of daring robberies appears to have been committed by the supervillain known as Dr. Simian. The criminal appeared in the first weeks of the appearance of superbeings, but vanished from headlines after that. It remains unclear whether Dr. Simian is a gorilla who gained the power of super-intelligence or a human mastermind transformed into beast. Regardless, he is a dangerous foe who combines enhanced brutal strength with a cunning intellect. His personal team of super-villains, The Safari, has had a remarkable success rate. In fact, he might have a greater success rate if if weren't for his great weakness-- a desire to outwit, trick and trap superheroes. More than most current villains he falls into the classic mode and revels in it. As he said in one brief interview after capture, "I have replaced by bestial bloodthirsty instincts with another instinct, the desire to humiliate my opponents-- which would be better I remain unsure." Simian popped up during the Starro incident in several actions to rescue trapped animals from zoos and parks in the path of the hurricane.

Orpheus: A What the What? Review

What the What? Reviews offer a quick overview of various smaller, OOP, or Obscure RPGs.

PREMISE
Corporate ghost agents carry out missions and fight other ghosts.

Before I go into detail I have to set up some context. Orpheus came out the year before White Wolf blew up the original World of Darkness. In some ways, it is a spiritual successor to Wraith, which had been capped off some years earlier with Ends of Empire. Like Mummy: The Resurrection, you can connect some of the elements of Orpheus to the fallout from that line's conclusion. More importantly, Orpheus is another stand-alone product line within the WoD setting. It is intended to be run independently of the other lines. What makes it unique is that the line as a whole was planned as a limited and complete campaign series. WW would later do that with some smaller lines (Scion, Changeling the Lost), but this is even more deliberate and established. The core book establishes the rules and basic stories. Each of the five books following are hybrid sourcebooks and campaign outlines. Each moves the story forward in a loose, but linear way. That means that the focus and premise of the game shifts as the line continues. GMs could fruitfully run Orpheus simply from the first book or opt to follow the larger plan. For this structure the authors make reference to film beats and plot progression. So the Orpheus core book sets up the characters and gets them in place for what would be the big change twenty minutes into a movie. For purposes of this overview, I’m going to focus on the situation set up in the core rulebook. In the “What Else Is There” section I’ll touch on the other supplements but try to remain relatively spoiler free.

WHAT DO THE CHARACTERS DO?
The characters work for the Orpheus Group. This corporation employs them to undertake “fixer” jobs- some mundane (cheating spouses, checking security), some paranormal (confirming hauntings, clearing ghosts), and some questionable (stealing security codes from the departed, terrifying victims). Interestingly, Orpheus is known for their “ghostbusting” in the setting, and employment of people who can interact with the spirit world. Other companies exist which also engage in these operations. There’s some question about how much is publicly known and how much accepted. The game background and narratives are a little contradictory on this point. GMs will have to decide how they plan on handling that.

Each character can exists temporarily or permanently as a ghost. Players can choose one of four approaches, called “Laments.” Two of these maintain a physical body. Skimmers can voluntarily leave their body to operate as a spirit; they leave behind a vulnerable body. Sleepers also leave their body but require a high-tech process to do so which involving equipment and time. They cannot quickly return to consciousness. While the Sleeper can remain out longer, there’s a distinct gameplay advantage to being a Skimmer. Two types have no physical form. A Spirit is effectively a ghost. They suffer from the disadvantage of possessing a dark doppleganger, and of course they’re dead so that’s not so great. A Hue, on the other hand, is also a ghost, but of a person who took a strange new drug called Pigment (a major plot point for the campaign). They exist more weakly, but have greater control of their powers.

Each Spook is further defined by a class, called a Shade. A player’s choice of Shade defines which powers they have an affinity with and which they cannot take. The five Shades are:

• Banshees: Can create emotion responses or even tear at physical objects with their wail. They also have access to visions of the past and future. 
• Haunter: They can inhabit and possess inanimate objects such as cars or guns. They can also manifest a damaging aura. 
• Poltergeist: Can telekinetically lift and manipulate objects. They can also manipulate their own etoplasm to create weapons and tools. 
• Skinrider: They can possess and control people. They also have the ability to briefly manifest enormous strength to affect the real world. 
• Wisp: They can entrance or beckon onlookers with their aura. They can also see cracks in the “Storm Wall” which separates the real world from the deep lands of death. Using these cracks, they can effectively teleport. 

Powers in Orpheus are called Horrors. Instead of a large list of choices in a track (as is common with most White Wolf games), a power has a set of effects and there are a relatively small number of them. One of the most interesting aspects of the game is that different Horrors can interact. The players are organized into teams, called Crucibles. Team members can learn to share energy and boost one another. When particular Horrors combine, they create a new and more potent effect. This encourages diversity and teamwork within the group.

WHAT’S THE SYSTEM LIKE?
Orpheus uses a version of the classic Storyteller system, common to old World of Darkness games. Actions are resolved using a dice pool of d10s. Most actions combine an attribute and a skill rating (usually from 1-5) to provide a number of dice to roll. Other ratings may substitute for those. Players have to match a difficulty on each die to count as a success. Each “1” rolled cancels a success. Rolling a “1” and no successes causes a botch. The dice pool allows players to perform multiple actions with a reduction in dice for each action. The system is relatively easy to pick up but in practice has a high kludge factor. Every Storyteller campaign I’ve seen has had different takes on what’s important and what gets ignored.

The complete rules for the game appear in the core book. The system does add a few new wrinkles to the standard Storyteller mechanics. Veterans of other WoD games may notice these. The unique traits for Spooks include Stains, Spite, and Vitality. Stains are visible defects on their character’s ghostly form. These have advantages and disadvantages. Spite is a manifestation of the character’s rage. It can be drawn on, but high levels have consequences. Vitality is the core “power” trait of the system- which can be transferred and modified. Orpheus also offers several variations on classic ST character creation. Players pick Roles- background professions- which have suggested point allotments and talents. GMs can choose to globally increase the power level of the campaign, in which case a role adds bonuses depending on whether you go for a medium or high power version. The “Nature” picked by characters in Orpheus has mechanical implications beyond regaining Willpower, a new detail.

WHAT’S COOL AND UNCOOL ABOUT IT?
Having these books available as pdfs offers an important benefit. The GM can easily choose which of the 53 pages of setting material they want to distribute to the players. That’s easier to do electronically, rather than having to photocopy sheets.

Some of the background material ends up being more than a little unclear. White Wolf often uses clippings, found material, and journals to set up the background. That’s excellent for creating verisimilitude and tone, but makes it harder to figure out what’s going on for the GM as well as the reader. It will take several readings for the Storyteller to put the pieces together here. Different readers may come away with drastically different senses of what the world looks like. I know my image has changed each time I’ve read it. That’s great- open and offering many readings, but at the same time because the line is a linear series with more episodes contingent on this one, I think this needs to be more direct. There’s a lot going on in this core book. Even more than some of the other WoD books, the have to completely set up the material. Other lines know they have the room to get everything out there in multiple supplements. As a result this book can feel overwhelming- almost too rich. In particular, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone without a passing familiarity with Storyteller. You need to understand the basics of that system and style of presentation to make your way through this.

The game also works best when the GM has a chance to read some of the later volumes and see what’s coming. That allows for foreshadowing and planning, and it also explains many of the hanging details from this core book. One problem the game has is in the practical disparity between the different kinds of Spooks. Spirits and Hues are dead, eliminating many interactions and putting limits on how they interact with the physical world. Sleepers have a serious disadvantage- made really problematic by the events at the start of the second volume, Crusade of Ashes. Any modest mechanical benefits these types gain feels heavily outweighed by the downsides. It almost seems like WW wants a more narrative, story-driven approach with this series. The way they hand-wave things, the looseness of the powers, modeling the structure on films, and the overall arc suggest this. But they still cling to system with significant mechanics and rules exceptions. It isn’t that Storyteller is a high-crunch system, but it does have more crunch than this setting requires.

WHAT’S THE CORE BOOK AND WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
The core book contains all of the basic rules. There’s enough there to easily run a campaign in this setting or integrate the material into another game. The pdf’s available, but a little pricey at $18 as of this writing. It might be better to hunt for a used copy, which can be purchased for around that price. There are five volumes in the complete campaign arc: Crusade of Ashes, Shades of Gray, Shadow Games, The Orphan-Grinders, and End Game. All of these, with the exception of the last volume, include some player-facing advice and information. There’s some strangeness in that last volumes include material better suited for making new characters (i.e. new advantages and such). I don’t know if the implication is that characters will die or get replaced. GMs looking to run a longer campaign may wish to take a look at these options before running from the main book. Each volume is fairly significant and useful- and each changes up significantly the campaign’s course. For example, the events at the start of Crusade of Ashes pulls the rug out from under the players’ feet. GMs will find both new options and material as well as details on the campaign arc in each volume. Even if you’re not planning on running the full show, they’re worth reading. General World of Darkness supplements aren’t that essential or useful with this line. They can be skipped. There’s also a single anthology of fiction set in this world, Orpheus: Haunting the Dead.

WHO MIGHT LIKE IT?

• Fans of Old School Storyteller looking for a way to get back into that setting without investing in a massive line of products. 
• GMs looking for a longer, story-oriented campaign with a fully developed arc. This could easily be played out over many months, with the GM expanding or contracting story beats as needed. 
• Modern horror gamers who want a fairly equal balance of action, horror, and conspiracy- with perhaps more weight on the action side of things. 
• GMs thinking about playing around with adapting an older setting to a newer, slimmer system: FATE, Savage Worlds, GUMSHOE, and True20 all come to mind.
• World of Darkness or other modern horror gamers who want a new challenging NPC or adversary group.
• Gamers looking for a grittier and darker spin on Ghostbusters. 

OVERALL
I really like some of the key concepts of Orpheus. The premise makes for interesting NPCs when approached from the outside (my same reaction to the Prometheans from the new World of Darkness). I could easily see running a campaign just from the core book, without heading off into the large and pretty amazing campaign arc they’ve laid out. I appreciate systems that offer mechanics encouraging teamwork and cooperation. The idea of new synergies coming from those powers could easily be lifted for other games. And generally Orpheus is one of those rare rpg books- a compelling and interesting read.

The game feels a shackled to a system that’s crunchier and more mechanics-oriented than it needs to be. White Wolf games talk about narrative and story, but still offer lots of rules. I really wish that they’d do a second, almost FATE or other rules-light version. Orpheus would really benefit from that approach. It could also potentially make the disparity between Laments less an issue.