http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=1 ... ge=3&pp=10Trait vs. Skill
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Just a quick note (that will probably bump this thread to 11 pages ).
The design philosophy of 1st ed was based on Musashi's own philosophy.
Brief Aside: Musashi wrote Go Rin No Sho, "A Book of Five Rings" that the game world (and it's designers) were inspired by.
Musashi believed that ability was more important than skill. He emphasised it over and over again. In Musashi's mind, skill was refinement, not ability. Yes, this makes him a bit of an elitist, but consider his time and culture, folks.
Anyway, we decided to make Musashi's philosophy part of the metaphysics. Game mechanics are metaphysics, after all: they define how reality works. If this was Musashi's reality, ability had to be more important and skill was nothing more than refinement.
Now, I'm not here to argue the math of it (although, I can ), but suffice to say I always thought the "Skills mean nothing" argument was very weak. And if I was designing 3rd edition, I'd tweak it just a little -- just a little -- but I'm still very happy with the outcome.
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Regarding "too powerful..."
Yeah, samurai get strong real fast in Rokguan. That's intentional. Chiefly because L5R was never meant to be a game about violence, but a game about chosing how to be violent.
All the L5R "adventures" (with the possible exception of Tomb of Iuchiban, which is a monster in it's own right) were actually morality plays. Samurai put in delicate situations where they could cost their family, and possibly Clan, important status with a wrong decision. Swords seldom saw the light of day in the games I ran and the adventures I wrote for. The game system was deadly for that exact reason: if you drew your sword, it meant someone was gonna die; either you or the other guy. Swords were only drawn under the most dire circumstances, and when they were, it was fatal.
I've seen people trying to play L5R like an adventure game -- which it wasn't designed for, but I guess if you tweak the combat rules, you can do that. That's what 7th Sea was all about and that's why we changed the system (including how skills worked).
Anyway, I've rambled on a bit too long. But, to answer the original poster's question, I'd play whatever system you and your friends have the most fun with. If that means using d20, go for it.
Myself, I use "L5R 1.5." One day, I'll write it down.
Sur le même thread, on lit aussi des trucs sur la 3e édition :
Et ça :The goal of Third Edition is to combine the best elements of First and Second together with new material taken from the sourcebooks. Add in to that a complete revamp of existing systems to eliminate any problems that we've found in the system since it debuted in 1997 (I think!), and I hope you'll share my opinion that this will be the most comprehensive version of the game in existence.
The writing team wants to bring the same quality to d10 that we believe (very immodestly, I might add) that we brought to the d20 version of L5R in the Rokugan Campaign Setting book.
Also, I would like to know the release format. One of the reasons I never brought Legends of Five Rings 2n edition was the fact it was a game in two volumes, a format I use to pass.
One book only.
1) Is there any planned differences in what is rolled and kept?
Yes.
2) Are skills going to be made more uniform (i.e. removing the disparity between combat and non-combat skills)?
Absolutely, yes. This is a specific design goal of ours.
3) Is character creation going to change at all? that's probably tied to question 1 and 2 in some ways.
The basic elements remain the same, but there will be subtle differences. Ancestor selection, the number of character points, etc.
4) Are any of the optional rules, notably the dual glory system from WotDaimyo, from the various books going to be incorporated into the base book?
Yes. Specifically, Glory & Status are both in the main book.
5) Are the combat and the magic systema going to be cleaned up to be more interesting?
Yes.
