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Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding D20 Conversion
Review: AEG never fails to deliver the goods, and in this case they give them to us in spades. Rokugan is an excellant conversion from the classic 'Legend of the 5 Rings' RPG system to the highly successful and popular 'D20' system. While not a stand-alone product it is still very meaty with dozens of feats and several excellant new classes with the 'L5R' flavor.All in all a very solid book and an excellant followup to the Oriental Adventures book (which I also highly recommend if you intend to run L5R using D20 rules) Something I would like to point out. This book isn't just a new collection of feats and classes and skills. This book presents one of the most dynamic asian fantasy settings roleplayers have ever had the pleasure of gaming in. It is rich in history and culture (and as much as I don't like the most recent history, it's still largely entertaining.) In short, 2 thumbs up. Way up.
Rating: 
Summary: d20 Rokugan: Inspiring, yet lacking...
Review: Having played D&D since the Basic Set, and having played the L5R RPG when it was still in 1st edition, I was excited by the announcement that L5R was going d20. I wasn't thrilled with the Oriental Adventures book, as the rules were either unclear, or didn't fit well at all with the theme of L5R. So I picked up Rokugan as soon as I found out about it. At first glance (in the store), it was really detailed. Each family in each clan has it's own bonus class skills, favored classes, and starting packages (which were a nice touch from the previous versions of L5R RPG). There are individual shugenja schools for each clan/family, full classes for courtier and ninja (courtier is especially useful for Oriental games), probably two dozen prestige classes (most are very good for other games, as well), and a plethora of feats (which included new Clan and Kiho feats). The background material on Rokugan is also very good, giving a new-samurai's view of the Emerald Empire, up to the time of the Emperor Toturi's death. There are details of the wars, along with a timeline filled with seemingly-innocent historical anecdotes (perfect for helping DMs create adventures). Unfortunately, the book is not without flaws. There are issues with the starting packages (some with contradictory equipment, others that simply don't make much sense or use), lingering questions on exactly how shugenja work in certain cases (especially the Isawa), the fact that the samurai ability to "awaken" their swords contradicts much of known L5R material (i.e., only shugenja typically do it), and several other issues. Individually, these things wouldn't be a problem, but altogether, make the book practically unusable. This in and of itself could likely have been corrected if the designers had created a FAQ and/or errata to explain or correct issues. But they have not, and there is almost certainly no plan to do so for the foreseeable future. There are smaller things I would alter, like making courtiers somewhat more useful, perhaps, but they are mostly flavor issues rather than game balance, mechanics, or setting issues. Should you buy this book? Yes, actually. The book is useful, but requires a complete overhaul, especially to make it v3.5 compliant (and no, there is no v3.5 update out for it yet, and there seems no plan to make one). The Complete series may handle a lot of these problems; though I have not read them all, they have incorporated the OA classes, with some or no modifications. I say buy it, but don't pay full price. Get it used, borrow one from a friend, but don't pay $20 for this thing. The lack of polish and user-friendliness should not be rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: d20 Rokugan: Inspiring, yet lacking...
Review: Having played D&D since the Basic Set, and having played the L5R RPG when it was still in 1st edition, I was excited by the announcement that L5R was going d20. I wasn't thrilled with the Oriental Adventures book, as the rules were either unclear, or didn't fit well at all with the theme of L5R. So I picked up Rokugan as soon as I found out about it. At first glance (in the store), it was really detailed. Each family in each clan has it's own bonus class skills, favored classes, and starting packages (which were a nice touch from the previous versions of L5R RPG). There are individual shugenja schools for each clan/family, full classes for courtier and ninja (courtier is especially useful for Oriental games), probably two dozen prestige classes (most are very good for other games, as well), and a plethora of feats (which included new Clan and Kiho feats). The background material on Rokugan is also very good, giving a new-samurai's view of the Emerald Empire, up to the time of the Emperor Toturi's death. There are details of the wars, along with a timeline filled with seemingly-innocent historical anecdotes (perfect for helping DMs create adventures). Unfortunately, the book is not without flaws. There are issues with the starting packages (some with contradictory equipment, others that simply don't make much sense or use), lingering questions on exactly how shugenja work in certain cases (especially the Isawa), the fact that the samurai ability to "awaken" their swords contradicts much of known L5R material (i.e., only shugenja typically do it), and several other issues. Individually, these things wouldn't be a problem, but altogether, make the book practically unusable. This in and of itself could likely have been corrected if the designers had created a FAQ and/or errata to explain or correct issues. But they have not, and there is almost certainly no plan to do so for the foreseeable future. There are smaller things I would alter, like making courtiers somewhat more useful, perhaps, but they are mostly flavor issues rather than game balance, mechanics, or setting issues. Should you buy this book? Yes, actually. The book is useful, but requires a complete overhaul, especially to make it v3.5 compliant (and no, there is no v3.5 update out for it yet, and there seems no plan to make one). The Complete series may handle a lot of these problems; though I have not read them all, they have incorporated the OA classes, with some or no modifications. I say buy it, but don't pay full price. Get it used, borrow one from a friend, but don't pay $20 for this thing. The lack of polish and user-friendliness should not be rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: Oriental Excellence
Review: I've been playing D&D for a couple of years now, but was just recently exposed to Oriental Adventures and the L5R setting a couple of weeks ago. Wow. What have I been missing? The Rokugan setting is just amazing, adding tons of depth to the Oriental Adventures setting and just providing a great atmosphere, chock full of politics, rivalries, and Three Kingdoms-esque intrigue. The additional clan-based suplements (Secrets of the Unicorn springs to mind, mainly because after only a few minutes of reading, I gained a ton of insight into my Water-based Unicorn Shugenji), are great, providing a huge amount of background on the cultures and personalities of Rokugan. If you're a bit tired of Greyhawk and Faerun, now may be a great time to trade your longsword for a katana and your cleric for a shaman. Check Rokugan out -- you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: Oriental Excellence
Review: I've been playing D&D for a couple of years now, but was just recently exposed to Oriental Adventures and the L5R setting a couple of weeks ago. Wow. What have I been missing? The Rokugan setting is just amazing, adding tons of depth to the Oriental Adventures setting and just providing a great atmosphere, chock full of politics, rivalries, and Three Kingdoms-esque intrigue. The additional clan-based suplements (Secrets of the Unicorn springs to mind, mainly because after only a few minutes of reading, I gained a ton of insight into my Water-based Unicorn Shugenji), are great, providing a huge amount of background on the cultures and personalities of Rokugan. If you're a bit tired of Greyhawk and Faerun, now may be a great time to trade your longsword for a katana and your cleric for a shaman. Check Rokugan out -- you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: Oriental Excellence
Review: I've been playing D&D for a couple of years now, but was just recently exposed to Oriental Adventures and the L5R setting a couple of weeks ago. Wow. What have I been missing? The Rokugan setting is just amazing, adding tons of depth to the Oriental Adventures setting and just providing a great atmosphere, chock full of politics, rivalries, and Three Kingdoms-esque intrigue. The additional clan-based suplements (Secrets of the Unicorn springs to mind, mainly because after only a few minutes of reading, I gained a ton of insight into my Water-based Unicorn Shugenji), are great, providing a huge amount of background on the cultures and personalities of Rokugan. If you're a bit tired of Greyhawk and Faerun, now may be a great time to trade your longsword for a katana and your cleric for a shaman. Check Rokugan out -- you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: a great supplement to Oriental Adventures
Review: In my opinion, this book is great. It has a lot of excellent feats, spells, skills, classes, and information for any Oriental D&D campaign. I recommend it equally as much as Oriental Adventures.
Rating:
Summary: a great supplement to Oriental Adventures
Review: In my opinion, this book is great. It has a lot of excellent feats, spells, skills, classes, and information for any Oriental D&D campaign. I recommend it equally as much as Oriental Adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Best Oriental d20 book yet
Review: The one problem with d20 products is that non-TSR sources have made better books than WotC-owned TSR has. This book, for example, is clearly better than TSR's "Oriental Adventures". The Samurai is done better, and there is a ninja class. Also of interest is a new class called "courtier", which is excellent for more cerebral campaigns. Add in the new skills contained in this book, and its easy to recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Best Oriental d20 book yet
Review: The one problem with d20 products is that non-TSR sources have made better books than WotC-owned TSR has. This book, for example, is clearly better than TSR's "Oriental Adventures". The Samurai is done better, and there is a ninja class. Also of interest is a new class called "courtier", which is excellent for more cerebral campaigns. Add in the new skills contained in this book, and its easy to recommend this book.
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