City of Lies for Legend of the Five Rings RPG
(by Greg Stolze, Alderac Entertainment Group, $29.95)
More Than One Book:Oh, yeah. Three books; a GM's Book at 95 pages, a
Location Book (i.e., second GM's Book) at 56 pages, and a Player's Book
at 88 pages. Plus an introductory leaflet which helps immensely,
especially since the books themselves are only spottily
cross-referenced. This is a shame, since the stories woven into them are
deeply intertwined with the daily goings-on of the City of Lies, Ryoko
Owari. Lotsa pages, lotsa opium, lotsa criminality to soak your players
with. City books are fun; this one has a real sense of place.
A Bigass Map: Two: a black-and-white map of Ryoko Owari useful and
suitable for game play (and quite nice), and a color map of Rokugan
without any cities or bridges or labels on it, which seems really
frustratingly odd. Attractive but useless, much like Neve Campbell.
Keen Handouts: A slim booklet, the secret diary of the former
magistrate of the city. The players are the current magistrates: his
diary is important because he was murdered... A half-check, since this
could be counted as another book rather than a handout.
A Toy Surprise: Nope. No little koku chits, no entry pass to Rokugan,
no origami, no opium pipe.
Overall Rating: The sheer amount of stuff in the books makes this a
worthy box, but it don't got that "rattle rattle" we want.
