No Fear

By John Zinser
AEG President

I remember like it was yesterday when Dave Williams inadvertently killed his favorite character in a design meeting.

It was an amazing moment and one that I remind the new L5R team of often.

The design team had gathered to discuss the next few sets and where the story was taking us. The great thing about L5R is that we outline a story, the players script it, and then we get to tell the final tale filling in the gaps between events, votes, and player initiatives.

It is our job to tell a great story and to tell a new story, so very often that means that we have to make hard decisions about the characters, families, and Clans in order to present players with an opportunity to tell a new tale.

But I digress. In this particular meeting long ago we were talking about the divergent path of two Clan champions. Akodo Toturi, the disgraced Lion Clan champion who had become a hero of the people, and Matsu Tsuko, proud current Lion Clan champion who’s strict adherence to the letter of the law as far as honor in Rokugan was concerned had backed her into a corner and led the Lion Clan down a very dangerous and deadly path.

On that day we talked about the Clan War as a whole and how it had affected each Clan and the players. We talked about how we could drive home the almost alien honorable actions of samurai when John Wick blurted out, “We’ll kill Tsuko. She will commit seppuku to allow Akodo Toturi to reclaim his position as Champion of the Lion Clan.”

Dave’s face turned red. His reaction was passionate to say the least. “Oh no you won’t!” he said loudly and the almost yelled. I had the fortunate and unfortunate job of saying, “Oh yes you will. If your (Dave) reaction mirrors the reaction that we will get from the players then we have to do it.” Dave was unhappy. His reaction, not Wick’s suggestion, is what drove us to have Tsuko make the ultimate sacrifice. At that moment Dave was just another player helping us tell a great story. In the end he, like so many other players, appreciated the fact that his favorite character went out like a hero and not a chump.

Jump forward to early last year when a new team was sitting down and starting to outline a new arc. Imagine whiteboards filled with new ideas and summaries of the previous story arcs. Imagine arguments about empty thrones and the Spider Clan. Imagine the conversation where we said, long before the 2006 World Championships, “The Ratling’s time as a major faction in the story needed to come to an end.” When the new outline was done and agreed upon, we knew that at the end of this arc the winning faction would choose a new Emperor for the next arc. We knew in our hearts that it could not be the Ratling and so with Tomorrow chasing them we sat stunned as they won the 2006 World Championships. In that instant secured an amazing story and an ending to that story that could only be scripted in a world where the players and the cards tell the tale. The very cool and surprising story ramifications discussed with Faber after his victory and before he entered the Tomb will be revealed in the spring Herald, but suffice to say it was another great moment for those of us honored to tell the story.

So why “No Fear?” Because it is the directive I gave to the design and story team before work on Samurai Edition began. Don’t be afraid to go where the players take you. Don’t be afraid to make big decisions and to put forth big challenges to players. Let the players take a larger than life character like the Khan and decide a major plot point with their play and decisions. Tempt them to make the easy choice. Don’t be afraid to deliver on hard promises if players take their Clans down a dark path and don’t be afraid to tell a new story.

My Next Article: The Level Playing Field of the Race for the Throne
Never before in the 11 years of L5R has there been a time when the actions of players outside of the gaming table could effect the story as much as their actions at the gaming table.