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Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game
Design Diaries
Thoughts Behind L5R 3rd Edition
A lot of theorizing has been done about exactly will and will not
change in Legend of the Five Rings Third Edition. While we’re not
prepared to spill all of its secrets just yet, here are a few things you
can look forward to:
1) Basic Mechanic –
The basic Roll and Keep system you know and love
is essentially unchanged. However, it’s worth stating that it is
unchanged so nobody worries about us fixing something that is not
broken. Everything will continue to be resolved by rolling and keeping
certain amounts of ten sided dice, to a maximum of ten. Dice will still
“explode” and we will have a few techniques that play with the idea of
when and how they explode. The bidding system inherent in the use of
Raises also survives entirely intact, though we’re going to clarify what
Raises can be spent on.
2) Skill Rolls -
This is the big change. Skill rolls were arguably
too difficult in Second Edition, too easy in First Edition. Now we are
going to shoot for a medium between the two. Skill rolls will now be a
number of dice equal to Skill + Trait, keep Trait, similar to First
Edition. However, these TN’s will become progressively higher as your
character faces bigger challenges, so there will be no “gimme” rolls as
characters gain more dice to throw around. To encourage players to
increase their Skills beyond the point where standard TN’s become easy,
most Skills will feature advantages beyond mere additional dice. For
example, having five Ranks of Investigation will allow you to
investigate a crime scene a second time after you have already failed
once. As you increase in mastery of a Skill, you can also purchase
Emphases. These will function similar to the Weapon Specializations
introduced in Second Edition, but they will be available for all skills
– not just combat skills.
3) Combat – Second Edition presented
a marked reduction in the lethality of combat, which a lot of players
did not like. Combat will return to its lethal roots in Third Edition,
though players will be given a bigger cushion of Wounds at the “Down”
levels. Thus while fights will be quite dangerous, it is less likely
that a beloved character will die outright so long as someone in the
party remains to carry the fight.
4) Magic – We really liked the improvements
on magic in Second Edition, so the changes here were mostly cosmetic. We
will not be using the term “memorized spells” for example, in favor of
the original term (Innate Abilities). Void Magic and Maho will also be
featured in the main book, and it will be possible (albeit difficult)
for non-Phoenix characters to now use Void Magic. Additionally, shugenja
schools will possess more unique flavor beyond simple Affinities and
Deficiencies.
5) Void -
Void Points have always been one of the coolest parts of L5R, so we are
not changing them, but we are building on them. There will be more
things that you can spend Void Points on now, including more techniques
and Advantages.
6) Advantages and Disadvantages –
How Advantages are accumulated will be clarified.
You can now officially purchase many Advantages after character
creation. Other Advantages (such as Blood of Osano-Wo) will be defined
as “Inherent” meaning that you cannot obtain them except at Character
Creation. Others (such as Allies) will be “Granted” meaning that you
cannot purchase them with Experience Points after character creation,
but can earn them through role-play. The rule that one can only have ten
points worth of Disadvantages is now officially removed – one can have
as many Disadvantages as he or she desires, but only gains a maximum of
ten Character Points for them.
7) Equipment -
Right off, we understand Rokugan has a very
strange economy. We understand everything is priced in terms of the last
harvest and, ideally, everything a samurai requires is provided by his
lord. However, we also understand that players need *some* frame of
reference to determine how much their equipment is worth, and many games
do not take place in a character’s home territory where a character has
the right to demand whatever he likes without compensation. With this in
mind, we are putting a “default” price list back on the equipment table
and allowing the GM’s to vary the rice from there.
8) Glory - Glory has always had major
problems. Firstly, it was earned too easily, leading either to
characters who had a great deal more Glory than they deserved or
characters who were not being awarded Glory. This latter phenomenon was
complicated by the fact that not awarding Glory leads to an unavoidable
Honor loss for one’s lord – thus all lords are apparently unavoidably
dishonorable. Secondly, Glory was used as both a subjective measure of
fame and, especially after the GM’s Survival Guide was published, an
objective measure of one’s political standing. To put it simply we can’t
have it both ways. We have now made the optional Glory and Status rules
presented in Way of the Daimyo official. Glory has now been split into
two traits, Glory and Status. Glory is a measure of subjective fame more
reminiscent of the original Glory. Status is now one’s objective social
and political standing. By doing this, characters can gather more Glory;
their character will enjoy the fame they truly deserve.
9) Extras -
We want a great deal of variety in Third Edition. To this end, things
that have traditionally been seen as “extras,” such as kata, kiho,
ancestors, maho, and Void Magic will appear in the main book. We will
incorporate these into the main system so they do not appear “tacked
on.” Kata will offer samurai options to make them competitive with
shugenja. Kiho will offer a unique style of character for those who wish
to play a monk. Additionally, every clan will include a courtier school
and a “wild card” school (such as Hiruma Scouts or Shosuro Assassins) in
the main book as well as the traditional bushi and shugenja schools.
Non-shugenja schools have been boosted overall to make every character
an exciting, varied experience. Characters will be powerful – Legend of
the Five Rings characters are, after all, heroes.
10) Mass Combat – In the past, they were so
abstract that they were often uninteresting and so lethal that they were
often intimidating. While a good GM could certainly brush over the flaws
of the previous system, the new battle system will be dynamic and
exciting for player and GM alike.
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