Let's start the discusiion. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/8/16/path-of-the-waves/

So this is I think a very interesting choice. A lot of people, myself included, expected a book like this, just not so early in the dev cycle. I'm kind of split, on the one hand, ronin haven't been a major theme in the fiction or LCG, or too much of the RPG stuff, so it's weird to see so much focus, on the other hand I know plenty of people interested in ronin games and more information on how ronin function, as well as other outsiders. And "rise from the dust" is a legit Core option, this book will probably serve to fully flesh it out. Sins of Regret sounds like an interesting and classic story type.

Also, a headsup, if some people who aren't familiar with FFG's style with Star Wars, this is gonna be a "location" type book like EE, expect one big chapter of player options (though it sounds like it's at the front) then 6 chapters on the various topics like Emerald Empire, it will not have a specific clan focus and probably no great clan schools like Shadowlands or Courts of Stone (which are the 3-chapter style). I'm still betting my internet donuts that Dragon is the next Clan sourcebook with the novella coming.

Yeah, I'm with you 100%. Seems like a weird choice. But ronin are such a huge part of samurai drama. Maybe it makes sense to give people options to run those sorts of games. Ronin are a big part of my game, so for me personally, this is awesome news. What I'd really like though is some rules for otokodate. Maybe they'll be present as titles?

I would like to draw attention to the fact that just in terms of how and where the people in the Emerald Empire trade with other cultures will ensure that this book remains interesting.

I suspect that this book will be quite useful for any campaign that remotely has any gaijin elements to it.

Either way, count me excited.

Looking forward to seeing Ronin Shugenja and Courtier schools!

It is a cool choice!

A lot of that lore was missing from the new ffg version of the setting, So now we will have something to "wrap Rokugan in".

The player options might also see play as it is probably easier to do campaigns that mixes one great clan and outsiders rather than two incompatible great clans.
So yeah, options there.

All in all, I'm very happy about the theme of the book!! Though, ready to be disapointed by the half baked mechanics.

what's this ? egypt / india ? wtf FFG..

5 minutes ago, gmcc said:

what's this ? egypt / india ? wtf FFG..

The Ivory Kingdoms (pseudo-India) have been part of the L5R setting for a really long time, and Senpet (kind-Egypt) for not much less. Their replacement in this timeline were introduced in the Unicorn Novella.

What exactly are you accusing FFG of?

2 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

The Ivory Kingdoms (pseudo-India) have been part of the L5R setting for a really long time, and Senpet (kind-Egypt) for not much less. Their replacement in this timeline were introduced in the Unicorn Novella.

What exactly are you accusing FFG of?

meh it just ruins the world for me.. i like the idea of this being a china / japan world , not turning it into different kinds and places..

8 minutes ago, gmcc said:

meh it just ruins the world for me.. i like the idea of this being a china / japan world , not turning it into different kinds and places..

The world beyond Rokugan has been the raison d'etre of the Unicorn since approximately the main rulebook of 1st edition RPG. There were foreigners in the very earliest sets of the CCG. There have always been outside influences on the game, just like Japan and China.

5 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

The world beyond Rokugan has been the raison d'etre of the Unicorn since approximately the main rulebook of 1st edition RPG. There were foreigners in the very earliest sets of the CCG. There have always been outside influences on the game, just like Japan and China.

yeah i just started in lcg and 5th edition so im new at the lore / world but what captivated me was the tematic.. now if they are going to explore other religions / places , im getting unsatisfied . beside it doesnt even make sense for me

This book is more about what those people do in Rokugan, though I'm sure it will describe the Ivory Kingdoms in order to explain where they come from. But Gaijin influences have been in Rokugan already in the RPG. There's the Mantis and Unicorn doing all that gaijin trade (explicitly in Emerald Empire), not to mention the Tortoise Clan explicitly formed for that secret purpose. The Unicorn Novella takes place largely outside Rokugan as the Unicorn deal with a potential military threat outside those borders. Crab hire gaijin mercenaries to man the wall. "Gaijin" also doesn't mean westerners - there are Ujik tribesmen who did not become the Moto, there are the Tengensai folk in the mountains above the burning sands, who know the Tao of Shinsei, and the Yobanjin tribes who live north of the mountains in Dragon and Phoenix, including many of the same stock as the pre-Fall of the Kami Rokugani, but refused to bend the knee. And exist as an influence in Rokugan as the Kaito family are descended from some. Plus all those gaijin keywords in the LCG.

So yeah, gaijin already all up in Rokugan, where u been?

47 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Senpet (kind-Egypt)

That's Rempet now, it's in the Unicorn Novella. FFG may not have secured any tm on that original name, but the ideas are similar (though Rempet was destroyed by Lady Shinjo herself, so they've been gone quite some time)

23 minutes ago, gmcc said:

yeah i just started in lcg and 5th edition so im new at the lore / world but what captivated me was the tematic.. now if they are going to explore other religions / places , im getting unsatisfied . beside it doesnt even make sense for me

So you wanted the entire planet to wear one, single, hat?

Even though any map very clearly showed there was more to the world than the borders of the Empire?

39 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

That's Rempet now, it's in the Unicorn Novella. FFG may not have secured any tm on that original name, but the ideas are similar (though Rempet was destroyed by Lady Shinjo herself, so they've been gone quite some time)

Rempet? 🤣

Loads and loads of time they spent on that name... 🤣 🤣 🤣

BTW any news if Pavarre is the Portugal expy? Because if it's Portuga... That's not good.

Pavarre is the name of a place, Portuga is a language (probably the language of Pavarre, if they're meant to be akin to Portugal). Similar to how I presume Invidi is the language of the Ivory Kingdoms.

3 hours ago, Hida Jitenno said:

So you wanted the entire planet to wear one, single, hat?

Even though any map very clearly showed there was more to the world than the borders of the Empire?

To follow up, the AEG maps of the world look more like Pangaea with Rokugan representing a substantial portion of landmass, but include many equally large or larger empires of the Burning Sands, Yodotai, etc.

Don't worry gmcc, Rokugan is still very isolated and culturally xenophobic, and your table doesn't need to include this supplemental if it doesn't suit your vision or play style. There are some in the empire (Unicorn, Dragon, Mantis, Tortoise) who regularly keep tabs on the outside world for the Emperor and you still have many other clans to choose from.

Foreigners will probably also be like one chapter out of seven.

8 hours ago, T_Kageyasu said:

To follow up, the AEG maps of the world look more like Pangaea with Rokugan representing a substantial portion of landmass, but include many equally large or larger empires of the Burning Sands, Yodotai, etc.

Don't worry gmcc, Rokugan is still very isolated and culturally xenophobic, and your table doesn't need to include this supplemental if it doesn't suit your vision or play style. There are some in the empire (Unicorn, Dragon, Mantis, Tortoise) who regularly keep tabs on the outside world for the Emperor and you still have many other clans to choose from.

yeah i know it just ruins the vision i had from this world.. for me at least .

4 hours ago, narukagami said:

Foreigners will probably also be like one chapter out of seven.

i dont know . from what i saw in the wiki of this game, there is alot of things.. clans from that places and etc..

42 minutes ago, gmcc said:

yeah i know it just ruins the vision i had from this world.. for me at least .

i dont know . from what i saw in the wiki of this game, there is alot of things.. clans from that places and etc..

They won't go as deep. The game is about the seven great clans.

Now, yes, there are minor clans, imperials, shadowland, ronin/peasants, and a few gaijin.

I expect maybe 4-5 pages on an entire gaijin culture, another 2-3 page location of that culture, and one school. Some "creatures" too. Maybe 4-5 cultures total I'd say.

It will never be in depth as Rokugan. It is basically to wrap the setting into a more fleshed out universe/world. And giving the option to players to play one of these gaijin characters, as you know, every movie have that one outsider like Robin Hood's friend.

I'm psyched because I see lots of possibilities with such a supplement beyond the classic "Anjin-san" tropes, though those could certainly be in here. After all, the historical wako were in fact quite multi-national and included pirates from Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Middle East. Plus, the idea of adding a few new monsters, spells, or whatever to surprise players is nifty. So bring on the waves!

They'll really help flesh out unicorn and mantis characters and games focused on those clans. I really loved the unicorn Novella and hope that we get a khanbulak campaign setting.

But mostly I hope we get a solid amount of classes to use and some information on groups like the pls and kolat to use as enemies.

4 hours ago, gmcc said:

yeah i know it just ruins    the vision i had from this world.. for me at least . 

Well, this is an interesting perspective because all of the extra world building doesn't have to ruin your vision of things. Rokugan as an isolated, highly traditional, conserved society has a populace largely ignorant of the outside world and you can run a lifetime of campaigns in which those heathen Gaijin have absolutely no screen time, are never encountered beyond those uncouth Unicorn. You can even run a campaign in which the propaganda machine of the Emperor is cranked up to 11 and any outside influence is viewed as heresy, which might be fun for PCs if they want to be against the establishment.

Personally, I'm hoping for a FFG update to the Burning Sands campaign supplement published many years ago by AEG as one chapter will just barely scratch the surface.

FFG didn't buy the rights to Burning Sands

There's three groups (ronin, peasant, gaijin), so actually I think two chapters per, but that's still only like 70-80 pages out of a +250 page book, and a lot of it will likely be what gaijin do in Rokugan and how they "Get away with it" as much as where they come from and why they left.