I-casting shugenj, acherous ninja

wastes of the Sha Velcome to the Emerald Empire

n development for over two years, The Legend of the five Roleplaying Game has arrived! Within these pages, you will

find everything you need to create your own adventures within the world of the popular Legend of the five Rings collectible card game.

“Ceremony of the Samu hes new players and Game Masters how to use the rules, lets players interact with Rokugan’s culture and society.

Pick a Clan, pick a pro- fession, spend a few p in the Emerald Empire!

echanic giving player< FI e mechanics of the game.

run a robe-playing game bercre, we prow advice and down-right dirty tricks to make your first time easy and fun. If you’re an “old school” gamer, then you’ll find lots of advice how to teach your players how to act and interact within Rokugan.

I I S B N L88795300-0 9 0 0 0 0

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We tell the tales of heroes to remind ourselves that we also cun be great. - The Tao of Shinsei

Legend of the Five Rings, The Emerald Empire of Rokugan and all other related marks TM,Q & 0 1996 and 1997 Five Rings Publishing Group, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Alderac Entertainment Group, authorized user. Second Printing. Printed in Canada.

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WRITTEN BY JOHN WICK RULE SYSTEM BY JOHN WICK & DAVID WILLIAMS LAYOUT: STEVE HOUGH, D.J. TRINDLE LAYOUT DESIGN: MATTHEW D. WILSON, DJ. TRINDLE LINE LDITOR: DJ. TRINDLE LDITING: D.J. TRINDLE, ROB VAUX, GREG STOLIE “CEREMONY OF THE SAMURAI”: WRITTEN BY ANDREW HECKT, €DITED BY ZDWARD BOLME

GREG STOLIE, DJ. TRINDLE, €D BOLME, ANDREW HECKT CREATIVE CONSULTANT: RYAN DANCEY

INTERIOR ARTWORK: BRIAN SNOIDDX K C LANCASTER

ADDITIONAL WRITING BY: DAVID WILLIAMS, ROB VAUX, JOHN ZINSER,

COVER ARTWORK: MATTHEW D. WILSON

MAPS, CARTOGRAPHY AND MAP TRANSLATIONS: Kc LANCASTER

JOHN flNSER SR., MARY ZINSER, DAVE SEAX BRIAN SNSDDX GREG STOLIE, €D BOLME, ANDREW HECKT, Ross ISAACS, K.C. LANCASTER, TONY KULL, JEAN-MARIE BAVEUX, Boss LADY MAUREEN-SAMA AND THE FRIDAY NIGHT PLAYTEST CREW

David Williams wrote or helped write the rules, examples, the Battle System, spells, Advantages and Disadvantages, a lot of the Fire and Air chapters, and made sure everything worked.

Edward Bolme and Andrew Heckt proved invaluable with their critiques on rules, history, culture, wrote a lot of spells, magic items, a few geographical entries, the adventure in the Book of Void and shared their almost magical enthusiasm and endurance.

Ross Isaacs assisted with metaphysical thoughts, editing, consistency and friendly conversation. D.J. Trindle never let me get away with anything. Rob Vaux helped write the Geography section, critiqued and edited much of the history, and helped develop the

Greg Stolze edited, threw opinion fits, and provided educated and enlightened insight that was invaluable. Marcel0 Figueroa created the “dice solution.” Steve Hough scanned everything and put it in its place. (Sensei) Tony Kull showed up every Friday to clean our clocks and teach us old school gamers what really hap-

Dave Seay gave me Go Rin no Sho and said, “Make it cool like this.” John Zinser never stopped pushing us to make the book what we all wanted it to be. Without these folks, this would have been a diceless game with five Traits I would have never paid attention to,

a bunch of Skills I wouldn’t keep track of and a 350 page Book of Void. Just mentioning them here doesn’t do jus- tice to the work they did to make sure this book came out right

Crab Clan.

pens in a five second combat round.

n o s e who stand alone, fall alone. Thank you, thank you. Thank you all. -IW

Legend of the Five Rings is 0 & TM 1996,1997 Five Rings Publishing Group Inc. and is used here under license.

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b o k of EM? 12 PATH OF BLOOD, PART I - SHORT FICTION FROM ROKUGAN ...... 14 A GAI~IN’S GUIDE TO ROKUGAN ......................... 16

The Beginning of the World ........................................................ 17 The Sun And Moon.. ............................................................. 17 The Great Sleep of the Naga.. ...................................................... 17 Children of the Sun And Moon.. .................................................... 18 ‘When the Last Akodo Falls”. ....................................................... 19 The Hantei Dynasty. ............................................................. 19 The New Way.. ................................................................. A Thousand Years of Peace. .......................................................

ROKUGAN ....................................... The Fury of the Elements ......................................................... Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Women ........................................................................ A Samurai’s Life.. ............................................................... A Farmer’s Life. ................................................................. Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economy, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dwellings ...................................................................... Castles. ........................................................................ Cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bushido: Code of the Warrior.. .................................................... Etiquette ....................................................................... Politics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RULES (QUICK & DIRTY VERSION). ...................... Quick and Dirty Rules. ........................................................... L5R RPG Golden Rule. ...........................................................

Eook Of Waf& PATH OF BLOOD, PART 2 - SHORT FICTION FROM ROKUGAN ..... <

CHARACTER CONCEPT ............................... , The Game of 20 Questions ....................................................... Character Types ................................................................

ABOUT THE CHARACTER SHEET ........................ Rings and Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clan, Family, and School ......................................................... Advantages and Disadvantages ...................................................

Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Wounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Honor .......................................................................... 58 Insight and School Rank ........................................................... 60 Glory .......................................................................... 61

OUTFIT ......................................... 61 EXAMPLE OF CHARACTER CREATION ................... .. 62 EQUIPMENT ...................................... 66 SKILLS ......................................... 68

High Skills ...................................................................... 68 Bugei Skills ..................................................................... 70 Merchant Skills .................................................................. 71 Low Skills ...................................................................... 72

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ........................ 72 Advantages ...................................................................... 72 Disadvantages ................................................................... 75

Crab Clan ....................................................................... 78 Crane Clan ...................................................................... 80 Dragon Clan ..................................................................... 82 Lion Clan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Phoenix Clan .................................................................... 86 Scorpion Clan .................................................................... 88 Unicorn Clan .................................................................... 90 Ronin .......................................................................... 92

CLAN SHEETS ......................... ........... 78

SKILL, ADVANTAGE, AND DISADVANTAGE LIST ................. 93

94 PATH OF d 0 D . PART 3 . SHORT FICTION FROM ROKUGAN ...... 96 USING THE SYSTEM ................................. 98

Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Keeping and Dropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Simple Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Contested Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Working Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Void . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Tests of Honor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Talent vs . Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

COMBAR SKIRMISHES ................................ 105 RAISES. DAMAGE. AND IAIJUTSU DUELS .................... 106 EXAMPLE OF A SKIRMISH ............................. 110

GLORY AWARDS AND LOSSES ........................... 118 Glory Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Glory Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

WEAPONS AND ARMOR .............................. 122 Swords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Pole-arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Bows & Arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Peasant Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 A Visit to the Crab Clan Armory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

COMBAT: BATTLES .................................. 114

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MAGIC ......................................... I34 RELIGION ............................... ....... 135

Ancestors ....................................................................... 137 The Role of the Shugenja .......................................................... 137 Maho - Black Magic .............................................................. 138 Folk Magic ..................................................................... 139 What Magic Can and Can’t Do ..................................................... 141

CASTING A SPELL .................................. 142 SPELL LIST ...................................... 144

The Basics ...................................................................... 144 Earth Spells ..................................................................... 146 Water Spells .................................................................... 149 Fire Spells ...................................................................... 152 Air Spells ....................................................................... 155

WHAT IS A GAME MASTER? ........................... 163 BUILDING YOUR CAMPAIGN ............................ 164 RUNNING L5R ................................... 167 ADVANCED TECHNIOUES ..................... ......... 171 IMPORTANT PEOPLE ................................ 174 NEMURANAI - ZNCHANTED ITEMS ........................ 180 ROKUGAN’S CALENDAR ............................... 184 NINJA .......................................... 185 CREATURES OF ROKUGAN ............................. 190

Goblins (Bakemono) .............................................................. 190 Yorei (Ghosts) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Shapeshifters .................................................................... 193 Ratlings (Nezumi) ................................................................ 195 Ogres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Zombies and Skeletons ........................................................... 197 Kenku ......................................................................... 198 Kappa ......................................................................... 199 Pennaggolan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Oni ............................................................................ 201

CEREMONY OF THE SAMURAI - AN INTRODUCTORY ADVENTURE .... 204 L5R RPG PROBABILITY CHART ......................... 221 MAPS ......................................... 222 GEOGRAPHY ...... . .......... . ............... 230 AFTERWORD ..................................... 245 SUGGESTED READING ............................... 246 INDEX ......................................... 248 CHARACTER SHEET ................................. 256

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