Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay,
Ryan Dancey
Ryan S. Dancey is a businessman who has worked primarily in the collectible card game and role-playing game industries. He was vice president in charge of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at Wizards of the Coast.
When the publisher of Dungeons & Dragon ...
, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle,
Matt Wilson and
John Wick
''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned.
The franchise began with the release of ''J ...
and first published by a joint venture between
Alderac Entertainment Group
Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cur ...
and
ISOMEDIA in 1995. The setting primarily involves the fictional empire of Rokugan, though some additional areas and cultures have been discussed. Rokugan is based roughly on feudal
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
with influences from other
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
n cultures such as
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. This setting is the basis for the
Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game
''Legend of the Five Rings'' (''L5R'') is an out-of-print collectible card game created by a joint venture featuring Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA in 1995 and published until 2015, when it was announced that the game would be disconti ...
as well as the
Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game
The ''Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game'' is a role-playing game originally written by John Wick and published by Alderac Entertainment Group, under license from Five Rings Publishing Group, in 1997. The game uses the Legend of the Five ...
. Legend of the Five Rings was also the "featured campaign setting" of the ''
Oriental Adventures
''Oriental Adventures'' (abbreviated OA) is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game. Each version of ''Oriental Adventures'' provides rules for ...
'' expansion to the third edition of ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'', though this book is now out of print.
The timeline of the ''Legends of the Five Rings'' setting can be influenced by players of the
collectible card game
A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
, and to a lesser extent the
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
, with the winners of major tournaments making pivotal decisions that become canonical history in future products. The most significant example of this was the ''Race for the Throne'' event, which took place through 2007 and 2008, which allowed players of both the collectible card game and the role-playing game to affect the storyline of their Clan by earning points in various Spheres of influence.
L5R was acquired by
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions.
History
Fantasy Flight Publish ...
in 2015.
Products
Collectible card game
The Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game is played by two or more players (in tournaments, generally two), each with two decks of at least 40 cards each (formerly at least 30 cards each). The game continues until a player has reached one of several different victory conditions, at which point that player is declared the winner. Victory conditions include winning militarily (destroying all provinces of one's opponent), by honour (reaching a certain number of honour points), dishonour (forcing one's opponent under a certain honour point threshold), through enlightenment (by putting cards called rings into play) or via a couple of special cards which essentially mean "game won".
In the game's tournaments players can affect the storyline of the game, their deck construction directly contributing to the lives (or deaths) of the characters involved. This is in turn reflected in future expansions of the game, and the mechanics of the cards therein. The full current rules of the collectible card game can be found at the Comprehensive Rules Site. The Kotei Season runs generally February through June of each year, where regional tournaments occur around the world. Each season incorporates a major event currently going on in the Emerald Empire, with each event determining at least one factor of the larger story. Kotei winners are pre-qualified into major events such as
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
and the European Championships, allowing them to skip the qualifying rounds.
Legend of the Five Rings has many cards that are directly influenced by players and their actions. These cards often feature an attribution on the vertical right side of the card, which includes the name of the player, the event, and the date involved in the creation of the card or theme behind the card. Having your name on a card is a goal of many players of Legend of the Five Rings.
The CCG ended its run in 2015 when Fantasy Flight Games acquired the game and converted it to a
living card game
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions.
History
Fantasy Flight Publ ...
.
Role-playing game
The Legend of the Five Rings Role-Playing Game is a
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
that requires one person to be
game master
A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are ...
and any number of other people to play different characters. There is no "winner" or "loser", and the players do not generally compete against each other. Instead, the players work together to find a solution to some problem which the game master has presented their characters. The setting allows for stories which are oriented around action, courtly diplomacy or a mix of the two.
The Legend of the Five Rings Role-Playing Game is currently in its fifth edition. The first four editions used an original ruleset designed specifically for the setting. To distinguish this game system from the
d20 System mechanics (see below), it is often referred to as the d10, "classic", or the "Roll & Keep" ("R&K") system.
In September 2017, after Legend of the Five Rings was purchased by Fantasy Flight, they announced a fifth edition of the RPG, which was released on October 11, 2018. It features an alternate version of the Roll and Keep system using special dice.
Live-action roleplaying
In 2004 a
live-action roleplay version of the game was released. Live-Action roleplaying has long been a major part of Legend of the Five Rings at events such as
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
. Heroes of Rokugan, a fan-run group organizes yearly LARPs as part of their own storyline.
Board games
''Clan War'' was a
miniature
A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to:
* Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting
* Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture
* Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...
based model
strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...
produced by AEG, whose story line is derived from the Legend of the Five Rings setting. This game is currently out of print. In 2010, however, a limited selection of the metal miniatures used to play the game was released by Valiant Enterprises Ltd. A second Legend of the Five Rings board game titled ''Art of War'' has been demonstrated several times but never released.
In 2011 AEG released a board game titled ''War of Honor'', which utilized the same cards as the collectible card game in a simplified game. Four complete decks were included with the game, making it self-contained, however additional cards can also be included. A second game, titled ''Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan'' was released the same year. This is a board game for 2–4 players in which one player takes the role of a Scorpion Clan ninja attempting to infiltrate a Lion Clan compound, with the other players defending it.
In 2013 a Legend of the Five Rings themed version of the card game ''
Love Letter
A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings.
History
One of the oldest references to a lo ...
'' was released. Using a deck of 16 cards and taking roughly an hour to play, the game simulates the courtly intrigue surrounding the attempts of several players to court a princess.
In 2017, Fantasy Flight Games released ''Battle for Rokugan'', an L5R-themed area-control strategy board game in which the clans fight to conquer regions on a map of Rokugan.
Living card game
After Legend of the Five Rings was purchased by
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions.
History
Fantasy Flight Publish ...
, they released a new version of the card game. Fantasy Flight's version (renamed
Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game) is distributed as an introductory core set with periodical Clan Packs (which focus on a single clan) and Dynasty Packs (which have a variety of clan cards). Unlike the collectible card game version, the cards in the core set and packs are non-random.
The game is played by two players, each with two decks of 40–45 cards each. The game continues until a player has reached one of several different victory conditions, at which point that player is declared the winner. Victory conditions include breaking the province which holds their opponent’s stronghold, accumulating 25 honor, or having their opponent run out of honor. In the game's tournaments players can affect the storyline of the game.
Novels
Clan War series
* ''The Scorpion'' by
Stephen D. Sullivan
Stephen D. Sullivan is an American author and artist.
Career
Sullivan taught a course in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at MIT the first of its kind in the country. Sullivan worked for TSR as a writer and artist. Sullivan joined CEO John Rickets, Ma ...
(July 2000)
* ''The Unicorn'' by Allison Lassieur (September 2000)
* ''The Crane'' by
Ree Soesbee Ree Soesbee is an American game designer of collectible card games, role-playing games, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), as well as a writer of primarily fantasy novels.
Early life and education
After Soesbee's mother ...
(November 2000)
* ''The Phoenix'' by Stephen D. Sullivan (March 2001)
* ''The Crab'' by
Stan Brown (June 2001)
* ''The Dragon'' by Ree Soesbee (September 2001)
* ''The Lion'' by Stephen D. Sullivan (November 2001)
The Four Winds Saga
* ''The Steel Throne'' by Edward Bolme (March 2002)
* ''Wind of Honor'' by Ree Soesbee (August 2002)
* ''Wind of War'' by Jess Lebow, Ree Soesbee (December 2002)
* ''Wind of Justice'' by Rich Wulf (June 2003)
* ''Wind of Truth'' by Ree Soesbee (December 2003)
Death at Koten
In May 2009, ''Death at Koten'' was published, a
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
written by Shawn Carman which takes place in the ''Legend of the Five Rings'' setting. It revolves around the death of Hida Kisada and the events that take place as a result of his assassination.
Setting
Legend of the Five Rings is set primarily in the fictional land of ''Rokugan'' (also known as the Emerald Empire), based on feudal
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
with influences from other
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
n cultures, where
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
,
shugenja, and trained
courtiers
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...
vie for control of the noble courts. Rokugan itself is home to mostly humans, divided into a society based on clans, with eight Great Clans and various minor ones, though at the moment they are all in confusion, and are vying for one of their members to be the new Emperor. They are regularly threatened by evil plots from within, but the main threat still lies to the southwest of Rokugan: the deadly wastes of the Shadowlands, where demonic hordes roam.
The world of L5R, which contains Rokugan, also contains the nations of the
Burning Sands as well as the
Ivory Kingdoms. A few foreign visitors from these lands have been featured in Legend of the Five Rings, but have not played a major role in the storyline. Much is unknown of these lands, mostly due to the extreme xenophobia of the Rokugani, shown in the story by an Imperial mandate of non-interaction with
Gaijin
is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens. The word is composed of two kanji: and ...
.
History
Ownership
In 1997, FRPG was purchased by
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
. The existing licenses remained in place, so the same creative team continued work on Legend of the Five Rings, AEG continued publishing the RPG, and Wizards began publishing the card game. In 1999, Legend of the Five Rings changed hands once more when Wizards was purchased by toy-making giant
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
(however, "Wizards" continued operations under their original name). The previous licenses were still in effect, so changes to the games and the development teams as a result were unnoticeable. Wizards of the Coast re-released
Oriental Adventures
''Oriental Adventures'' (abbreviated OA) is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game. Each version of ''Oriental Adventures'' provides rules for ...
(a long out-of-print
AD&D
In insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) is a policy that pays benefits to the beneficiary if the cause of death is an accident. This is a limited form of life insurance which is generally less expensive, or in some cases is an add ...
supplement), changing the setting from the original
Kara-Tur to Rokugan, and updating the supplement to the
d20 rules. Several of the following sourcebooks provided dual (d20 & d10/R&K) rulesets.
In late 2000, however, speculation about the future of Legend of the Five Rings – especially the RPG – began to run rampant after Hasbro, during a string of decisions that greatly upset the leadership at Wizards, decided to sell Legend of the Five Rings two years before AEG's long-standing license was due to expire. Any fears turned out to be unfounded when, less than half a year later, AEG won the bidding war for Legend of the Five Rings.
Until 2015, AEG owned Legend of the Five Rings. They designed and published the card game and the role-playing game. AEG released Lotus Edition for the CCG in late 2005, beginning the Age of Enlightenment story arc. Samurai Edition was released in July 2007 and included the Race for the Throne story arc. Celestial Edition was released in mid-2009, followed by Emperor Edition in early 2012 and Ivory Edition two years after that, in 2014. The final arc designed by AEG, Onyx Edition, was to be released in 2016.
On September 11, 2015, AEG and
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions.
History
Fantasy Flight Publish ...
jointly announced that the setting had been sold to FFG. A new version of the card game (incompatible with the CCG) was released as a
Living Card Game
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions.
History
Fantasy Flight Publ ...
at
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
2017.
Story Team
There have been five 'eras' when it comes to the L5R Story Lead/Team.
The previous lead was Rich Wulf, assisted by Shawn Carman. Wulf's works include Way of the Wolf, Bells of the Dead, Rokugan, and many other Legend of the Five Rings products. Large contributions to the Legend of the Five Rings series were also made by Ree Soesbee, who was lead writer of Legend of the Five Rings prior to Rich Wulf, and John Wick before her who along with the founding members of Five Rings Publishing Group created the world. While the property was controlled by Wizards of the Coast, the creation of the Four Winds arc (starting with Gold Edition) was helmed by Paul Allen Timm and Rob Heinsoo with contributions from Andy Heckt and Frank Chafe.
Currently, Shawn Carman is the head of the Legend of the Five Rings Story Team. He has had great success at incorporating player effects into the game in a smooth manner, regardless of how odd the results of a tournament may be to the setting of the game. His team includes Nancy Sauer, Brian Yoon, Yoon Ha Lee, and Robert Denton with Fred Wan acting as co-lead and continuity editor. The team formerly included Rusty Priske and Lucas Twyman.
International Olympic Committee legal issues
One legal issue for Legend of the Five Rings involved the use of a symbol that consisted of five interlocking rings, arranged in essentially a star pattern. This symbol was used for several years in the role-playing game and featured prominently on the backings of the cards in the collectible card game. The United States Olympic Committee sued Wizards of the Coast, who at that time owned Legend of the Five Rings, over the logo, because a special Act of the U.S. Congress
gave them the exclusive rights to any symbol consisting of five interlocking rings.
The only way to completely resolve the issue was to quit using the symbol. For the role-playing game this meant very little, but for the collectible card game it meant that the backing of the cards had to be redesigned, which left players with a mix of cards that essentially resulted in marked decks. In an attempt to appease the players, Wizards released the first set with the different backs – Spirit Wars – bundled with opaque sleeves that would obscure the designs on the backs of the cards, allowing players to use any mix of cards in their decks.
See also
*''
The Book of Five Rings
is a text on ''kenjutsu'' and the martial arts in general, written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi around 1645. Many translations have been made, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than other martial artists and people ac ...
''
*''
Legend of the Burning Sands
''Legend of the Burning Sands'' (''LBS'') is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) published by Five Rings Publishing Group (FRPG, then a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast) in July 1998 in games, 1998. It was a spin-off from the earlier CC ...
''
References
External links
Legend of the Five Rings– The official Legend of the Five Rings home page.
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