Heroes of Rokugan I
- Plans and Storyline Development - A Discussion
- Satsume's Tournament
- Kitsuki Evidence
- A Chance Meeting
- Spiritual Presence
- Legacy of the Dark One
- Winter Court: Kyuden Asahina
- The Face of Fear
- Arrows From the Woods
- Evil Feeds Upon Itself
- A Mantis and His Rat
- The Falling Darkness, Soul of Iuchiban
- The Ties that Bind
- The People's Expense
- Occult Murders, Soul of Iuchiban
- Lies, Lies, Lies
- Drawing Out the Darkness, Soul of Iuchiban
- A Foreign Legacy
- A Magistrate's Duty, Soul of Iuchiban
- Fury of the Elements
- To Do What We Must
- Winter Court: Kanrinrin's Duty, Soul of Iuchiban
- The Fate of a Hantei, Soul of Iuchiban
- Smoke and Mirrors, The Lion and the Crane
- A Hidden Blade, The Lion and the Crane
- Treachery and Deceit
- Winter Court: Shiro Kyotei
- Ancestral Dictate, The Lion and the Crane
- A Heart of Vengeance, The Lion and the Crane
- Soul of Akodo, The Lion and the Crane
- Darkness Beyond Darkness, Shadow's Path
- The Chrysanthemum Festival, The Lion and the Crane
- Kuro's Fire
- Duty on the Wall
- Fist of the Earth, Shadow's Path
- Day and Night
- The Scorpion's Sting
- Flower's Kiss
- In Time of War
- Winter Court: Shiro no Kaiu
- Proposal of Peace
- Way of Deception
- A Walk Through the Mountains, Shadow's Path
- Narrow Ground
- Peasant Defense
- The Price of Loyalty
- Dark Eyes on the Wall
- Tao of the Naga
- The Cost of Duty
- Storm and Forest
- Stain Upon the Soul
- Command of the Kami
- The Jade Championship
- Twisted Forest
- Funeral Pyre
- Time to Pay the Price, Shadow's Path
- Damning Evidence, The Hidden Temple
- Test of Courage
- Winter Court: Kyuden Bayushi
- Corrupted Ground, Shadows of an Iron Citadel
- A Question of Honor, Shadows of an Iron Citadel
- A Last Wish, Shadows of an Iron Citadel
- Blood of Midnight, Shadow's Path
- Fires of Retribution, The Hidden Temple
- Faith in My Clan
- Along the Coast at Midnight
- Unmaker's Shadow, Shadow's Path
- The Dragon's Heart, The Hidden Temple
- Time of the Void
- The Day of Thunder
Heroes of Rokugan II
- Plans and Preparation
- The Topaz Championship
- Treacherous Terrain
- Writ of Justice
- Tears of a Fox's Heart
- Wrath of the Kami, Remorseful Seppuku
- Unrequited Love
- Devoured by the Sea
- Scholarship, Remorseful Seppuku
- Uncertainty
- Unquiet Graves, Remorseful Seppuku
- Way of Death
- The Sapphire Tournament
- Bloom of the White Orchid
- The City of Lies
- The Bon Festival
- Stolen Relics
- Forgotten Shrine, Remorseful Seppuku
- A Say's Sail, Shipping Lanes
- Charge of the Baraunghar
- The House of a Thousand Stories
- Winter Court: Shiro Hanagensai
- In Search of the Future
- Compassion, The Code of Bushido
- Bayushi Lineage: Fathers and Sons
- Unexpected Find
- Legacy of My Ancestors, Shipping Lanes
- ➔ Corrupt Officials
- Grave of Heroes, Ominous Portents
- Voice of the Emperor, Ominous Portents
- Imperial Funeral
- Test of Purity, Ominous Portents
- Essence of Yume-do
- Shadows on the Court
- Strength From Weakness, Twenty Goblin Winter
- City of the Lost, Twenty Goblin Winter
- Failure of Courage, Twenty Goblin Winter
- Kharmic Vengeance
- Sleepless Nights
- Honesty, The Code of Bushido
- Journey to the Burning Sands
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Harsh Lessons
- A Champion's Heart
- Corrupted Region, Shipping Lanes
- Unexpected Betrayal
- Courage, The Code of Bushido
- City of Empty Dreams
- Campaign Fiction: Scenes from the Empire, Summer 1502
- Secluded Village
- Cursed Gift
- Touch of Obsidian
- The Siege of Shiro Usagi
- Campaign Fiction: The Seppuku of Bayushi Tenkai
- Retirement
- Shadows of Beiden
- Into the Darkness
- Heated Discussion, The Code of Bushido
- Campaign Fiction: Scenes from the Empire, Autumn 1502
- Broken Words
- Assigning Blame
- Winter Court: The High House of Light
- Winter Court: Shiro no Shosuro
- Duty and Honor, The Code of Bushido
- The Cherry Blossom Festival
- Campaign Fiction: Scenes from the Empire, Spring 1503
- Undignified Death
- Loyalty, The Code of Bushido
- Marriage Celebration
- Fall Before the Master
- Border Conflict
- Campaign Fiction: A Summer of War, Parts 1-4
- Nemesis of Justice
- Summoned to Justice
- Essence of Toshigoku
- Doom of the Crab
- The Hidden Heart
- A Long Journey, Shipping Lanes
- Allegiance to the Emperor
- Campaign Fiction: A Summer of War, Part 5 and 6
- Contest of Artistry
- Reverence for Chikushudo
- Masterpiece: Iron Crane Chef
- Mujina Tricks, Remorseful Seppuku
- Spider's Lair
- Words and Deeds
- The Final Interactive: Weekend in Rokugan 2010
- Campaign Fiction: Brother and Sisters
- A Fallen Friend
- Truth and Falsehood
- A Hard Rain Will Fall
- An Arranged Marriage
- Whispers of the Moon
- Fate of the Assassin
- March Unto Death
- Celestial Journey
- Words Cut Like Steel
- To the Last Breath
L5R Homebrew
- A Root Problem: Conflicting Themes
- Power Levels and Power-Creep
- Defense Versus Offense
- Raises
- Narrative Control Mechanics
- Wounds and Death Part 1
- Thugs Versus Characters
- Dueling
- Wounds and Death Part 2
- Schools, Techniques, and Kata Part 1
- Spells and Secrets
- Schools, Techniques, and Kata Part 2
- What's with these Shugenja, anyway? br>
- Unofficial 5th Edition
Download Part 1
Download Part 2
Download the Emerald Magistrate Cert
The campaign’s first two-round module, and an ambitiously complex one, this mod had several apects: it was a very strong beat on the meta-theme of moral/social corruption, it was another stage in the Scorpion internal conflict introduced in City of Lies, it was the conclusion of the Akodo Torokai mini-arc, and it was the full introduction of the infamous and super-capable ronin assassin Kagekaze (he had gotten a very brief preview appearance in Unexpected Find).
As always, I enjoyed creating investigative/mystery stories (multiple ones in this case, as the PCs pursue different investigations in Round One and Round Two). It was also fun to create a huge cast of Scorpion NPCs, many of them with serious personal flaws. However, the best part of my work on this module was creating and exploring the world of Toshi Aitate, the Vegas of Rokugan. Toshi Aitate was originally described in 1st Edition’s “Way of the Scorpion” (one of the best of the “Way of” books) and I loved the concept – it seemed a very Scorpion thing to basically invent Vegas (complete with everyone wearing masks so “what happens in Toshi Aitate stays in Toshi Aitate”) and I was more than a little disappointed when the city, like a number of other cool things in 1st edition, inexplicably vanished from later L5R materials. (As with many other such things, I was later able to restore Toshi Aitate to its former glory in both 3rd Edition’s “Masters of Court” and the 4th Edition “Atlas of Rokugan,” in the process drawing on some of my ideas in this module.) For the module, in keeping with HoR2’s themes of social/moral decay and the pain of modernization, I decided to take the whole “Vegas of Rokugan” idea and crank it up to eleven, with rival yakuza gangs, a main street “strip” lined with garishly-lit gambling dens and geisha houses, and even a highly addictive foreign drug, “Crimson Flower,” that was basically an allegory for cocaine in our own modern world. (Since the drug was brought in by the Thrane, it would recur as a plot-thread in the later Shipping Lanes modules.)
The concept of the assassin Kagekaze had been brainstormed by my wife and I when she conceived the module which would eventually be released as Broken Words. We wanted the PCs in that module to be deeply alarmed at the prospect of facing the hired assassin, which meant we had to “set up” the existence of such a lethal, super-capable assassin in an earlier module. I hit on the idea of combining that introduction with the end of the Torokai arc, making the assassin the agent of Torokai’s death. The specific nature of Kagekaze’s personality drew inspiration from a number of sources, including Ogami Itto (from “Lone Wolf and Cub”) and a one-shot assassin character who shows up in episode two of the anime “Samurai Champloo.” The concept was of an intelligent and brilliantly skilled man who in another era would probably have founded a School or even a Minor Clan, but in the corrupt and socially decaying era of Rokugan 1500 was reduced to being a killer-for-hire with a cynical, almost nihilistic world-view. Kagekaze clings to his own personal “assassin’s code” to try to give his life structure and meaning, but that code is not a true substitute for Bushido, and it cannot ultimately sustain him.
Since the whole point of the Kagekaze/Torokai story was to confront the PCs with an unavoidable defeat that would leave them shamed and burning for vengeance (a classic samurai storytelling theme that I drove home repeatedly throughout HoR2), I needed Kagekaze to be powerful enough that sane PCs would not dare to fight him. I deliberately made him ridiculously high-Rank and gave him a “broken” Advanced School of his own devising (which also reinforced the idea that in a more honorable age he would have created something great), and then made sure the PCs would realize how strong he was before they jumped into a fight with him. This produced the desired result – many PCs became obsessed with growing strong enough to take on Kagekaze (either as a group on in a duel). I later played on this by posting on the campaign YahooGroup a list of “the five deadliest swordsmen in Rokugan” which included Kagekaze along with the three potential Big Bads. It’s worth noting, though, that at this time I did not have any specific plans for Kagekaze beyond his planned return appearance in Broken Words… the final conclusion to his storyline did not come to me until I was into the campaign’s final year.