Imperial Herald Issue #8

I said I would read Wind of War next, but I've got the heralds around and, them being short and I not being a masochist, I'm doing issue 8 now.

This is the second Herald with RPG content, and I'm not sure if it came out before or after the firts book of the Shadowlands, but it was close enough that I feel confortable reading it now.

Comparing it with the previous issue, there is more content, including the adventure Hand of Fuhinko, which is based on the House of the Plum Blossom material from City of Lies. It's a very competent action/horror romp that it is a shame it wasm't included with the boxed set as it is superior to Yemon's Legacy in my opinion.

The solution for the Hare clan riddle was also published in this herald, as well as another round of the RPG FAQ.

There is an interesting tidbit about True Ronin taking the different school advantage as a way to have a normal school progression. I'm not sure if it is something I'd ever allow in my games, but is something I never even thought about and it has me intrigued.

The column Veterans of the Shadow is introduced detailing Moto Nimthat and the Blade of Mol-Ghan. Serviceable but nothing spectacular. However it is something that, again, could have been printed in a standard book, lets say instead of the CCG decks.

As a sidenote, the CCG decks from the books don't seem to be reprinted in or from the herald, which makes it somewhat less galling.

Finally there is what I think is supposed to be a preview of the first book of the Shadowlands.

However, unless I'm completely blind, Oni no Jimen was not in Kuni Mokuna's guide. I'm going to take extra care when checking that book to make sure.

As you can see this is an interesting issue, altough so far my feeling being more that it is a shame this content wasn't published in the standard books where it would fit perfectly.

Imperial Herald Vol. 2 Nº 3

I've decided to get the Imperial Heralds that I know to have RPG content (and Clan War content as well, actually). I've just received the first one from eBay and while it confirmed that it wasn't worth a subscription it's actually quite ok.

The first Imperial Herald with RPG content which is I believe the seventh published, which is a small FAQ Errata, including movement rules, and a complete adventure called alone in the Dark.

Alone in the Dark is in fact a rather competent horror romp. It lack a bit in that doesn't suggest how to involve the players, nor does it give any advice on running it, but I suppose it is understandable considering it's published in a periodic newsletter with limited page count and mostly devoted to a CCG.

Taking that into account I suppose it's greater flaw is that, as one of the first published L5R adventures, the Horror genre in an awkward choice. At this point in the line there wasn't much advice on running horror L5R and as stated above, there is no advice in the adventure for it, making it less useful for a GM with good grasp on horror gaming.