News — L5R

I will readily admit that I am a HUGE L5R RPG fan.  I've never played the card game, but some of the best campaigns I've ever been on were in the L5R setting, which is saying something considering how much I've played in my home brew D&D and Robotech games over the years.  Truly, the only outside game I've played that compares is Shadowrun, and even then I believe I've played more L5R on the whole. I can well remember going into a Waldenbooks in the early 2000s and finding a copy of the new D20 Oriental Adventures and being...

In the transition between 1996 & 1997 Alderac Entertainment Group decided to invest in creating the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. The 1995 split with company founder Jolly Blackburn over the direction the company was headed, namely the CCG market, created an opportunity to expand that was not in Blackburn’s original designs. From the CCG of Legends of the Five Rings the RPG was also born and I say the world of role-playing is much better for it.Written by John Wick who I believe is the absolute best game designer of the past two decades [and yes this includes...

Now I’ve been a HUGE fan of Aldrec Entertainment Group’s Legend of the Five Rings since the game was in 1st Edition printing as an independent RPG. During my decade of playing it, I was always intrigued by what lay outside the Emerald Empire, and especially the Burning Sands which was often referred to in the fluff for the setting. You can then imagine how happy I was to see the 3rd Edition rules hardcover of The Burning Sands when I attended GenCon in 2010. The game details the lands beyond Rokugan, namely the pseudo-Arabian world although there is also...

‘Say not that honor is the child of boldness, Nor believe that death alone can pay its price: It is not to a single action that honor is due, But to the life that enfolds it.  – Lady Doji Ah… what isn’t to like about the Legend of the Five Rings RPG, especially the 1st Edition circa 1998-99?  The above quote comes from The Way of the Crane, one of a half dozen spectacular supplements that dedicate themselves to the great clans of the L5R setting.  This particular one, written by Ree Soesbee, is a wonderful piece of gaming fiction...