Today marks the release of Winter’s Embrace, a winter court adventure I wrote for the 5th Edition of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game. It’s one of writing projects I’m most proud of and the one I had the most fun writing (besides the development work on core rulebook itself). If you noticed me gushing about my progress on #ProjectDatingSim on Twitter, then you saw how much excitement Winter’s Embrace inspired as it took shape. For me, the concept of the winter court has always been one of the biggest draws the L5R RPG had to offer. The endless...
From my “Sasarindō” scenario for Blood & Honor, here are some new Aspects I adapted from existing Japanese proverbs. Feedback is welcome, and appreciated. Feel free to use these for your own samurai, but please do not take credit for them or post them on your own site. “One’s Eyes Say More than One’s Mouth” Invoke: +3D for communicating non-verbally. Compel: Easily gives things away with one’s eyes. “Like a Fish to a Cat” Invoke: +3D to make preparations to secure your “fish.” Compel: You believe...
My dad listens to that craziest shit, but sometimes those internet radio stations of his pay off. Just as I was finishing chores to prepare for tonight’s Turkey Fest the Yoshida Brothers came on, and I knew I’d found the new soundtrack to Sasarindō, Blood & Honor, and Legend of the Five Rings, among others. A few of my favorite tracks: Some of the tracks are slightly campy/new age/jazzy, depending on your taste in music, but overall I’ve had a hard time finding suitable instrumental tracks that aren’t from movies (Kurosawa’s...
Six men and women, six virtues, six destinies, six downfalls. Picking back up on work for Sasarindō, a Blood & Honor adventure inspired by the Tale of the Heike, I finally got all the player characters completed and will convert them into my lovely writable sheets shortly. All that’s left afterwards is to gloss the rules for more additions/changes given the time period and then get into the story hooks, character connections, and hurdles of the scenario itself. I intend to get a draft ready for playtesting by the end of November, at which point I will...
One thing I’ve noticed as I begin to play Shinobicow’s Google Plus L5R game is how much hesitation I face when playing Shigeru. Physically he is very similar to my high elf from Ebbs’ Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition campaign, Morvael, but their setting makes the two almost indistinguishable. My Swordsmaster had a realm to save, but my Crane a game of courtly politics to play. Swords as opposed to words, and they could not be more different. Especially in a play-by-post format. I have to role-play more than I roll. Because dice-rolling online is a pain...
