This review is delayed, far from the “hot off the press” take that I had intended back some time ago. Instead this has been an article I have stewed on for some time. In 2020 there came an announcement that Edge Studios would be taking over RPG properties that had been held by Fantasy Flight, which includes two that I have written about extensively in the past: Star Wars and Legend of the Five Rings. Since the acquisition, the publishing has mainly been constrained to reprints of books in use and published already developed supplements that had been in the pipeline before the acquisition. It was a bit of a surprise to me that the first new material from this new studio was to take the setting of Rokugan and put it into the mechanics of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.

My reaction to reading it at first was, to put it politely, visceral.

I do not consider myself an anti-D&D homer. In fact, I enjoy the game and find D&D 5E to be an excellent balance in streamlining action while still giving some room for player customization. It’s one of the more beginner friendly systems I know of on the market and I have an appreciation for its role in mainstreaming the hobby of playing tabletop RPGs over the past few years with the success of Stranger Things and popularity of Critical Role/Vox Machina. However: I already had two systems that I enjoyed using to play Legends of the Five Rings, and while both have their differences a large part of my enjoyment of both was how different they were from Dungeons and Dragons. A quick perusal found that Adventures in Rokugan was nothing like the Legend of the Five Rings that I knew, and I was immediately turned off. Why on earth would anyone choose to stick interesting systems into another set of mechanics that result in the game playing nothing like the original?

It took a while, embarrassingly long, to realize something: that was the point. 

For all that I enjoy Legend of the Five Rings, it tends to not be compatible with elements of high fantasy that other games seem to take for granted. While there are supernatural elements, they are highly regulated in setting: either controlled by the feudal society in place, or looked at with severe suspicion at best, with overwhelming violence turned against it seen as a reasonable outcome. The idea of a farm boy rising to legend would be something the setting would be actively trying to squash, as it would destabilize the power structure that most players rely upon. Visitors from faraway lands are actively discouraged and even those who find a stable situation are perpetually looked down upon as outsiders. I gradually realized that these are common tropes in many campaigns I’ve been a part of over the years. What are usually small quirks to D&D characters are haunting dark secrets that can bring the world crashing down around you in Legend of the Five Rings, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and potentially an interesting character ideas that choice perpetually puts a player at a disadvantage and might turn off some players. Upon further review, Adventures in Rokugan makes this completely clear:

“Legend of the Five Rings has had numerous previous roleplaying game iterations. These games  have mechanics that strive to capture the essence of a samurai drama in an RPG experience, putting emphasis on political machinations, personal drama, and the ephemerality of life. The book you hold in your hands, Adventures in Rokugan, has a different mission: to present a version of the Legend of the Five Rings setting that brings the best of the 5e experience to Rokugan. It focuses on heroic adventure, mythic battles inspired by folklore, and the larger-than life exploits of exceptional individuals.”

“The only thing that is true of all of the protagonists of Adventures in Rokugan is that they are adventurers. Whether they fight for ideals, glory, or gold,  these heroes are like the characters of Rokugan’s folklore come to life, vanquishing monsters, completing quests, assisting those in need, and making a name for themselves that may resound across all of the Emerald Empire for centuries.”

With that, the choices that I thought were bugs were rather design choices. When viewed through that lens, they make far more sense. Did the setting need a new system? That’s debatable. However, the mission of Adventures in Rokugan is specific and the choice to lean into D&D mechanics does match that aim. So, what is different about AiR other than the dice you roll? Let’s dive in.

Character Species

Legend of the Five Rings assumes by default that players will be human. While there are exceptions, it is the overwhelming list of options, as differentiation came from which Clan and Family the players choose for their characters. Adventures in Rokugan, however, opens up a massive grab bag of options: along with bog standard human there are the telepathic serpentine Naga, the magical corruption resistant Nezumi, cosmic bureaucrat Mazoku, undead spirit Specters, the heavenly Tengu messengers and a wide assortment of animal spirit Yokai. This both better fits the model of the standard D&D starting species array along with placing the stories of the campaign in the stated model of myths and legends. I do wonder if the Human pales in comparison to some of the other options, but that is a common complaint in D&D and players keep choosing it, so I cannot fault the decision making too much. Is the identity of other species awkward in setting? Yes. But again, this appears to be a conscious design choice rather than a bug.

Classes, Backgrounds and Character Customization

It is a bit strange to lump these together, but I feel that it’s a necessary choice. In all interactions of Legends of the Five Rings I have seen, while classes had broad categories each Clan would have their particular takes on them with each Clan holding their own specialties. It was to my initial dismay to see that class choices had been stripped down to bare bones to a set list: bushi, duelist, shinobi, courtier, ritualist, pilgrim, and acolyte. 

A big part of my dismay was that the specializations of each Clan was what would give them flavor. Only the Duty obsessed Scorpion clan would normally field a shinobi. The Crab are notorious for how tough their soldiers would be. The Phoenix are prized for their magic users, and the Crane for their duelists and courtiers. These choices made it an intellectual exercise of what a player might want to try for a particular campaign. It was initially disappointing to see all of that variety boiled down to basic 5e class design.

However, with further review, the design choice is necessary with the change to the wider array of species meant for players and to continue the mix and match feel that players can get with the D&D model that Adventures in Rokugan is adhering to. Even more, there is real meat in the Backgrounds. Within each section is not only information about the Clans and the families within them but also quick build models for each of the different family specializations with many entries actively advocating multiclassing to round out characters. Arguably, this creates more character creation combinations than would be possible in L5R. Rather than losing flavor, players have the chance to add it. The flip side to such established roles in Clans is that it could be hard to see the point in making a duelist that wasn’t a Kakita or a magic user that wasn’t an Isawa. A larger platter of combinations has opened up and I can see the appeal.

Tweaks to characters can also be done via feats and equipment. Feats are almost entirely the same as D&D 5E models, but they have similar enough analogues to L5R editions that no one will be too surprised. Equipment has a split: weapons and tool kits function identically to the D&D model. However, magical items have more flavor to them. Nemurai, or awakened items are when items take on the history of the deeds they have accomplished. Rather than going out and buying a +1 weapon, a player would need to strike finishing blows against opponents of noteworthy strength or renown. Armor would begin to gain history after surviving nasty hits or wading through a turbulent battle. I enjoy this method of building. Rather than players being rewarded with treasure for acts of heroism, the act of heroism itself becomes the reward. Maybe it is a distinction without a difference, but I find it has more flavor than “loot enough bandit caravans to purchase the +3 holy sword”. I can see rounding out players who try to meta it too hard by giving the sword some cursed elements similar to the legends of Muramasa blades

Resources for L5R Veterans

Say, for the sake of argument, that you’ve been unmoved by the crow I’ve eaten thus far and have zero interest in playing Adventures in Rokugan because you are a L5R veteran. I still think that there is useful content in the book for you. My entry into the lore of Rokugan was pretty head first by starting games of 4th and 5th edition in quick succession. A lot has been written about the setting since 1997, including a creation myth for the universe I’ve only seen exceeded in length by Exalted. The opening chapter of Adventures of Rokugan condenses a guide to the geography, societal structure, crime and legal codes, themes in culture and a list major factions of the land of Rokugan PLUS a primer of the cosmology of the divine realms and the supernatural creatures thereof PLUS a helpful guide on how to roleplay a historically East Asian themed setting without being an asshole and not doing it in a judgemental or preachy manner. That is a decent amount to take on, and Adventures in Rokugan does it in 15 pages without feeling rushed or an exposition dump.

Helping that is some rather beautiful artwork used to convey the information and, to put it bluntly, the intro has probably the single best map of Rokugan that I have found, showing major sites within the Empire while delineating each Clan’s holdings. Furthermore, the book authors managed to cull through their preexisting work when fleshing out locations for L5R supplements to create an atlas of Rokugan. Each Clan’s holdings has a map that some groups could use for an entire campaign, along with more detailed maps for bigger cities. These are fantastic resources if you want to run a campaign spanning the Empire and the notes easily transfer back to L5R without requiring any mechanical conversion. For me, that on its own is worth the price of the book if you are planning to run any kind of campaign in Rokugan.

Conclusions

I can’t say that I expect to run any game using the new system mechanics from Adventures in Rokugan. My tabletop group(s) skew to liking the mechanics that L5R uses: lots of social maneuvering, combats that are short and brutal, with many opportunities to push sideways on the setting. When we want the high fantasy of D&D, we run D&D, but we tend to experiment with a lot of different systems. Part of me still asks why a functioning game needs to be reskinned over to the most popular RPG mechanics on the planet.

However, I know that I am not all gamers. D&D has taken a greater role in the cultural mainstream over the past few years and however you feel about that, I find it hard to deny that D&D mechanics has been the jumping off point for the vast majority of RPG players. If you are in a group that loves D&D, wants to keep playing D&D but wants to play in a East Asian inspired setting in a way that isn’t drowning in stereotypes, and has well fleshed out locations and themes? I think you can do a lot worse than picking up Adventures in Rokugan. 

Are you a hardcore L5R fan? Maybe like me you won’t run a campaign, but I have to give a nod that the design is well constructed considering the transitions that needed to be performed, and the supplemental tools were well worth the price of the book for me. For a lot of reasons, I do suggest a look for people with any interest in the setting.