So I will tell you up front that my love for Legend of the Five Rings started quite a long time ago with first edition.  Since my first time walking into a roleplaying store and seeing the book I was in love.  I never got into the card game or the miniatures, strictly into the role-playing game.  From there I collected every RPG book I could find and have had more collections of these books than other setting or system.  That being said I am at a loss for fifth edition but desperately want to learn and figure this out.  This game is hopefully where we can all grasp the system and enjoy the setting.  Here is where I will lay out my idea and notions for Rokugan, the landscape of Legend of the Five Rings.<br/><br/>Typically, people get lost in the fantasy samurai genre thinking this is Japan with some magic tossed into the mix.  At one time the creators certainly pushed that narrative, but I believe now this is simply styled as an Asian influenced fantasy game.  While I certainly enjoy the history of Japan and invite any aficionados to share that knowledge, please keep in mind this is not Japan.  There are influences from all over Asia here along with a great deal of Western input that makes things muddled.  That means that I do not want to hear lectures from people on what would happen in Japan or China.  This is Rokugan and so we dictate what will and has happened here.  We are the storytellers here and I do mean WE, not just me and not just you.<br/><br/>That sort of sets up a segway into how I view my role as a Gamemaster and yours as a player.  I do not play my own character perse, but instead like to focus on all the others around your character.  I control the larger narrative and story, while you control the story of your character and your character’s experience.  That, to me, means that we are telling the story of your character together along with the story of the group together, collaboratively.  I intend for you, the player, to give me input on NPCs and to also breathe life into the people personal and dear to your character’s experiences.  Valued servants, hated rivals, beloved parents and so forth will all come from you for me to place into this world.  So please be generous and kind so that we can make this a great story.<br/><br/>Elements I do want to see in a Legend of the Five Rings game are Romance, Action, Drama and Family.<br/><br/>Romance – I love samurai romance and the doomed nature of this.  I do love that in L5R true love is a disadvantage instead of a boon to the character.  Marriage is a social institution here and discretion always required to avoid offending the other party.  Homosexuality is accepted but marriages are meant to produce children and so homosexual marriage is not a social norm or custom.  My version of Rokugan is also a sexist one where women have their honor tied to being a virgin and are supposed to marry, produce children and run households.  The characters are obvious exceptions as they are character and there are families where this is the exception such as the Matsu and Utaku.  But I do like that looming cultural pressure to be there which adds lovely drama.<br/><br/>Drama – All aspects of Rokugan are filled with drama.  A warrior does not just fight on the battlefield but also in court.  Shugenja are expected to preside over not only matters of the spirit but of law.  Courtiers must be ready to defend their honor with sharp words and sometimes quick knives.  Be prepared to embrace that a samurai must be well rounded to survive.  Also I enjoy the drama of a samurai having to be one way in public and another in private, that each maintains many faces at one time.<br/><br/>Action:  What would any samurai be without action?  I do love duels and stand offs though, that loving mix of a western and eastern with swords.<br/><br/>Family:  By this I mean that a character is not an island.  They work for their own betterment, the betterment of their family and their descendants.  Legacy is everything and this should be important to your character from the start.<br/><br/>So here I open the floor up to tell me what you guys want from this game and how you view Rokugan.<br/>