Not in the phase of organizing anything yet, just wanted to see if people are generally interested in playing it or if running it online is a better idea.
I bought the beginner box a few weeks ago and the books shortly after and would at some point like to try it out (either as a DM or player).
The setting is basically feudal fantasy Japan, players are running Samurai of various clans. The rules are crunchy but there is no need to get into everything as once and get rid of stuff that doesn’t work.
The game itself is less focused on combat and more on role play (intrigues, code of bushido and how it conflicts with the characters passions, goals and attitudes).
Combat is kinda deadly and is kinda similar to DnD’s theater of mind play style (optional but meh grid rules, movement measured in relative distance) and separate duel rules where the first one to lose one’s temper presents an opening.
Personally I’ve been DMing DnD 5e for 9 months (Phandelver into Storm Kings Thunder) so I could run the game but I’m also not opposed to other people taking the lead. Personally I’d like to avoid the common Anime tropes (senpai, desu, sensei/chan, owo) and just keep it strictly in a Samurai setting.
Is there some knowledge of Japanese history required to play this properly or does the book provide you with everything you need? I mean in regards to things like the way people speak or common traditions idk.
I can’t say I have much of a clue (outside of some rough outlines) in regards to Japanese history and traditions but if that is not a requirement I would be interested as well but only as a player since I am still “dming” my first group and don’t feel very confident in it yet.
The corebook itself covers the clans and a bit of the back story. As for the history part: not really related to Japan but it definitely takes inspiration from cultural aspects like the code of Bushido, poetry, weaponry and social structure.
I think the lore part itself is the hardest part since I’m not that deep into the LCG (or earlier versions of the rpg). It’s kinda like running Warhammer Fantasy RPG without ever having played the tabletop or computer games.
The source books provide a lot of background information but you have to work your way through them so ATM I’m mostly relying on pre-written adventures until I get the full picture.
All in all you have to onboard the players and help them a bit in game (“your character knows that this action is frowned upon and will cause you to lose honor”) but that applies to any RPG that relies more on the story aspects.
TL;DR: not a requirement, can be helpful to roleplay your character but hey, we’re all beginners so no worries.
Very cool will post an Arrange a Meetup post in the next upcoming days. I plan to run the beginner game and the follow up adventure “In the castle of the Emerald Champion” which should span about 4-5 Meetups so I suppose this should satisfy the “few shot” tag.
Wow, this looks pretty cool. Any news on when/ where you all will meetup? I’m here to offer the cafe (cafe 1070) as always, and this is actually one I would be quite interested in playing
Welcome Samurai!
My name is Josip and I am tending the L5R cardgame community. I’ve been playing the roleplaying game since the 3rd edition of it (when it was still in AEG hands)and can say without a doubt: Rokugan is an awesome setting! That’s why I started the card game in the first place when it got a revival through FFG. I am happy that it’s a very good game as well!
Best part: people that play it can directly influence the official rokugan story, how awesome is that!
If you’re interested in trying out the beautiful and complex game or just talking about the lore and the rpg you can find us playing:
where: at Siren Games, Friedmanngasse 13/1
1160 Wien. we play in their gaming cellar. www.sirengames.at
when: every monday at 1800 (some people arrive earlier)
costs: none, most often people have more than one deck with them. it still would be good to send me a message, just to make sure that we have one (or, if you come with a friend, more than one)
length: the game is not a fast card game(like yugioh, magic and such), but more of a board game. for beginners I advise at least 2 hours.
That’s a quick summary of the community.
Before I forgot! If you want to read up on the current storyline (no spoilers for the adventure) you can find it here: https://imperialadvisor.com/the-l5r-story/
Enjoy!
ps:I’ve asked Johle and he allowed me to shamelessly plug our card game meetups here.
