As I have mentioned before I fell in love with the idea of playing in an oriental setting back when TSR released their Oriental Adventures but never had the chance. I had seen Legend of the Five Rings first as another collectible card game. I had fallen prey to other card games such as Wyvern and Star Trek which both failed to live up to Magic, I had even tried Jyhad which was later Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. Having spent time and money on these I avoided the L5R card game and then this when released.
This is the first edition of the game and never having played it I can not say how the newer editions compare to this. From reading this version the game seems to be as much about setting as it is about game mechanics which is a good thing. I find that games with fewer rules often lead to more role playing. I am not sure if it has ever been put forth as a correlation or the like but I think there is an indirect relationship between the complexity of the rules and the ability to role play. If this has not been done perhaps it can be called the Wymarc Scale.
Getting back to the task at hand though I think that Legend of the Five Rings in the AEG editions at least would be a fine addition to anyone's game collection. I know that there have been at least four editions put out by AEG and then the setting was used for the 3e OA products. I can only make educated suggestions though as I have no direct experience with the game play.
Published: 1996
Pages: 256
From the introduction:
Welcome to Rokugan, the Emerald Empire(TM). Rokugan is a place of mystery and wonder, inspired by the legends of feudal Japan and other places in the far East. It's a world of samurai and ninja and spellcasting shugenja, where dragons soar the skies and danger lurks in every shadow. The Legend of the Five Rings Role- Playing Game (L5R RPG) allows you to take the role of one of those legendary figures in search of honor, glory, and adventure.
Spell:
Find A Mark
Level: Third
Range: 6"
Duration: 1 Round/Level
Area of Effect: One Missile Weapon
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 5 Segments
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast by the magic user it must be cast on a hand held missile weapon. It will cause any ammo shot from that weapon to hit something.
When ammo is shot/fired or slung from the missile weapon it will have a +2 to hit the desired target. If this does not occur even with the bonus to hit the projectile will continue on trying to hit another target.
After the initial target the next possible target would be chosen at random, excluding the shooter, from all inside the initial range of the missile. The missile can travel as far as needed to hit further than it's range would allow but can not exceed that in a maximum distance from the point of origin.
If it misses it's second target it will continue on until all possible targets have been exhausted. If the only possible target remaining is the individual shooting the missile then they will be struck by it. If by some means the shooter is incapable of being hit by the missile by means of other spells or abilities then the whole process begins again.
Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.
1 comment:
L5R is a great setting. I was involved with way back when it got going (being on AEG's demo team when the RPG was released). I'm also playing in a 1e L5R campaign now.
I like the spell. Though, of course, if you are looking for Oriental flavor to it, it should be named "The Arrow Knows the Way".
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