# Forum > Gaming > Roleplaying Games > Older D&D/AD&D and Other Systems >  Legend of the 5 Rings- 1 Year of Rokugan- Campaign Journal

## Easy e

Greetings all, 

I am about to start GMing a Legend of the 5 Rings campaign using 3rd edition, and wanted to leave a few notes about it here.  I guess you could call it a Campaign log, but it is more of an overview and a few particularly interesting bits and bobs.  

*First Things First*
1. Why 3rd edition? - Because I have it. 

2. Backgrounds- I have GMed a variety of RPGs, but never L5R.  The players mostly have background with D&D 5E.  They enjoyed getting their hands dirty in character creation and quickly started trying to wrap their heads around the new rules and world. 

3. This is a short campaign I created called One Year in Rokugan.  It takes place in a valley at the edge Crane, Scorpion, and Lion territory.  I purposely put it "out of reach" so I could avoid knowing everything about the background of Rokugan while learning the rules.  I don't know everything about Rokugan, and never will.  

The campaign has 4 adventures, 1 in each season.  Each season also has a different theme for things to learn about Rokugan.  Spring is to teach the basics of Bushido and the tension between Honor, Status, and Glory.  Summer introduces them to the idea of the Shadowlands and Jingoku.  Autumn is about Obligation to your lord, Clan politics, and duels/non-combat resolution.  Winter is all about Court, investigation and the Law.  This is expected to take about 12-15 3 hours sessions to complete.       

4. There was a Session 0 for character creation, and part of Session 1 was some of the ground rules about Rokugan.  However, at least half of the group had read up on their clan, family, and the general background of Rokugan culture.  

*Characters*
There are 6 players, with a mix of folks from different ages, backgrounds, and the like.  I wanted at least 1+ Crane, 1 Lion, 1 Scorpion, and asked for 2+ Bushi, 1 Shugenja, and 1 Courtier.  All of the characters are second or third born children, and not eligible for inheritance at the moment.    

1. Doji family Shugenja (Crane) - Caster
2. Akodo family Bushi (Lion)- Trained in the Kakita school, so a duelist
3. Bayushi family Bushi (Scorpion) - Tank
4. Hiruma family Scout (Crab) - Stealthy
5. Shinjo family Bushi (Unicorn) - Archer
6. Togashi family Tattooed Order (Dragon) - Monk   

The players had a lot of fun loading up on Disads so they could do other fun stuff with the characters.  However, no one chose to be a Courtier and I did not "force" anyone to take that role.  The Scorpion and Crane trained characters both have some Etiquette and Courtier skills, but no one dedicated to it.        

*The Hook*
The players have graduated from their respective schools and celebrated their Gempukken over the autumn and winter.  However, spring is coming and the new Patrol Season is fast approaching.  However, the head of their families each received a letter from an old family friend, asking for their aid.  Instead of going on a "regular" Spring Patrol the players have been sent by their families to assist Doji Hansei with his request for aid.  

I left it up to the players on why each family would choose to help Doji Hansei, and what their connection was to him.  They travelled by foot to his small estate and eventually met Hansei at a reception dinner.  There they discovered that he needed the players to escort his 4th daughter to her wedding in the Valley of the Emerald Stairway in the Seikitsu Mountains at the border of the Crane/Lion/Scorpion lands.  His daughter was to marry the Yasuki Crane Lord of the Valley.

The PCs are informed that to access the pass to the Valley takes 2 days of travel to a cross roads, and then 1 day from the cross roads to the foot of the mountains, 1 day up the pass, and a 2nd day down into the valley.  At the crossroads, there is an inn.  This adventure is taking place in early spring, so the snows are still melting along their route and have not been cleared by Spring Patrols.  

Hansei's own Samurai are busy with Spring duties in his own estates and territories, hence why he sought the aid of the player's family, knowing they had children who recently graduated.

*To be continued*
We will continue the adventure soon......

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## Easy e

Well, we had out first session last night after a bit of housekeeping early on.  

The party all gathered at the estate of Doji Hansei and were given the adventure hook.  The D&Disms started to show right away as the party wanted to "get paid" and also tried to ask for stuff from Hansei.  

I think one of my favorite moments was when a player asked if they could get some Heavy armor and the Crane said, 

*"I am sure you do not mean to disrespect your father and lord by implying that they have not provided everything that you need to complete your task."*

That put them on notice right away that things were going to be a bit different in this game! 

I also tried to set them up with various D&Disms in this first adventure, so they could see just how different things were going to be.  In addition, these quick, easy encounters were put in place to demonstrate how the game works and let them play around with the dice mechanics a bit. 

They encountered a unknown group of warriors approaching, and I wanted to see what they would do.  One hid and prepared an ambush just in case, while the others waited, confirmed that the approaching samurai were Crane, and then simply provided their traveling documents.  

They stayed a night at an inn, and got all bent out of shape about how to pay.  Again, their travel documents were all they needed to avoid that whole mess.  They were travelling on behalf of the local lord.  

The party got to move a downed log blocking a narrow mountain path.  In addition, they encountered a deer, and the party hunters got to hunt it.  This allowed me to introduce the idea of not touching dead things, and that led to some discussion about how to properly dress it and make use of the animal. 

The party finished their travels to their destination.  It was a small village, where they started to notice that something was a miss.  The group all really seemed to enjoy interacting with peasants, as I as the GM demonstrated how peasants feared Samurai and tried to avoid them as much as possible.  Despite the peasants and Kami telling them the truth, it was clear that something else was going on.  

The session ended with the suspicion that things were not as they seemed.  The party had brought the Lady Doji Ao to the valley, but still needed to escort her to the her Bethrothed's residence.  

*Character Interactions*
The players themselves loaded up on Disads for their characters, so their was immediately some friction between characters.  

The whole idea of escorting Lady Ao to an arranged marriage ended up being much more controversial than I expected.  The Crane and the Unicorn both had arranged marriages (of some dimension) in their back story and it led to some discussion about how it fit in with Bushido and one's proper duty.    

In addition, their was some Clan rivalry that popped up as well.  The Scorpion in particular had no fondness for Unicorns.  In addition, the Lion member was contrary, so that caused a bit of friction as well. 

I think their were only two big "misses" as a GM.  One, as new players in a new system their was still hesitancy on "what could be done" instead of doing things and finding out the outcome.  In addition, the players barely interacted with Lady Doji Ao, their escort.  They seemed to treat her with suspicion, like she was in on some sort of plot.  A failure on my part.   

*Final Thoughts*
Overall, a fine opening session that got across the objectives I wanted.  It was relatively low key, and a good practice and reminder for me about how to balance play between 6 characters at a table, and cut through table talk to action.  

The party was introduced to the ways of the world, we got to exercise some D&Disms, we played around with mechanics overcoming some simple obstacles, and the hook is firmly set for the next adventure.

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## Telok

Wonderful. I love doing these as I often get some useful suggestions when I do logs. I also love hearing how games go that I'd like to, but will probably never get to, play.

Keep up the great work.

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## Ameraaaaaa

Nice read so far. Btw from what I've seen most people put their campaign journals in roleplaying general since that get's more traction. You don't need to put campaign journals in the specific systems journal since they don't focus on mechanical discussion. Feel free to correct me.

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