Those are covered already: The basan is in Path of Waves, and Komainu are already in my Creature Compendium. And even three kinds of Shikigami (who are covered in the Shadowlands book)... But thanks for the others, I'll look over those.

I looked the story up: Dreams of Shadow. And you are partially correct, in the story, Shadow and Void cross their path, as the Master of Void has a daughters who seems to be either conceived or at least touched by the Shadow and in the end, he seems to fall into Shadow. But those events do not seem directly connected to Void, they just happen to happen to the master of void, probably the Shadow targeting him. The story does have a Shosuro with a shadow brand, teleporting to a shadow like with the new Fluid Shadows invocation, doing sanctioned Scorpion business, and feeling his humanity slipping away each time he uses it, like with 4th Edition Book of Shadow. To me, that is a contradiction to the novel. So maybe 5th Edition hasn't decided yet how much to use the Shadow/Lying Darkness angle, and thus produces inconsistencies.

One could argue that it can become relevant if you use the school, but come from another clan, as per page 56 of the Core Rulebook: "If you wish for your character to study at another school outside of their clan, ask your GM’s permission and work out a set of circumstances that have allowed for your character to receive their unusual training."

No, my understanding is that Shadow and Void are entirely unrelated things. The Void the Ishiken use is described as being without spirit or will, so inversions are more like western magic, the casters mind working on a matter without soul: "They are not the invocations used by shugenja (though some ishiken can also use invocations), as they do not appeal to the spirits for power over the natural world or over the Spirit Realms. Instead, an inversion is the application of human will upon a fluid point in the fabric of the cosmos, temporarily or permanently altering the state of reality in the area that is around the wielder when they perform the inversion." So if the Lying Darkness exists in 5th Edition, as I would say the novel implies, it has probably nothing to do with the Void wielders. At least, that is my reading.

That's harmless compared to https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2020/11/18/the-yogo-curse-part-1/...

At long last, a new entry into my Creature Compendium: The Nue, a chimera hidden in darkness that theatened the life of the 78. Emperor of Japan, if legend is to be believed, and that Usagi Yojimbo faced in the comic 'The Wrath of the Tangled Skein'.

I have a more favorable view of the book, but just a detail: The size of the Obscuring effect is based on Air ring, not school rank, so affecting the whole battlefield should be possible from level 1 at least in most battles. I really like the Shadow-Weavers. I also prefer that they seem to have no connection to the Lying Darkness, as one would expect knowing 4th Edition The Way of Shadows. Playing what is essentially a potential marionette to the power that wants to undo creations isn't my kind of heroic journey. In 5th Edition, the Soshi and Shosuro do not seem to channel the Lying Darkness, in the novel "Whispers of Shadow and Steel", working with Shadow Brands is a crime to the Scorpions. Instead, being marked by the Lying Darkness seems to be the Shadowlands Taint [One with the Darkness] Disadvantage from the Shadowlands book.

How many new regular invocations (non-Void) are in the book? Edit: Found it, it's 3 per element.

When and where did you order?

How many people live in Rokugan, would you say? How many of them are from the Samurai-class? As a reference, by 1200, 16 million people lived in France, 3.5 Million in England, 50 Million in China. By 1600, 20 Million in France, 4 Million in England, 90 million in China. In Edo Japan, 7-8% of the population was samurai.

I feel that L5R 5th lacks a Monster Manual. Sure, the play-style isn't dungeon-crawling like in other systems, but I always liked having a manual with an interesting creature or two to inspire a short sidequest. Ravenloft excelled at that, with creatures that were both interesting and complex enough to keep a group occupied for an evening. Especially Emerald Empires let me down in this regard, with over a dozen creatures spelled out in all details, but all of them simple human NPCs. I can easily improvise a human NPC, something more uncommon would have been much more useful. Shadowlands offered a number of good creatures, but of course, most are confined to the Shadowlands. So I thought we could design and share some here, as inspiration and help for other gamemasters. I'll start it off with a few creatures, inspired from different sources and ideas (no warrantry that that is how the official creature would look, or that it is true to ancient folk traditions). Since printing out web pages is a headache, I also compiled all my monster into a single PDF document, with some GM remarks and adventure ideas each. I'll update the PDF whenever I design a new one. Of course, I will also post them down-thread: Strange Creatures of Rokugan.pdf HERE THERE BE MONSTERS: - the undead ninjas called Akikage - The Con-Tinh, a beautiful princess alone in the woods, which somehow does not behave like a princess at all. - the Head Hunter, the most horrifying moster of the old D&D Ravenloft Denizens of Darkness: - the terrible Hopping Vampire, mainstay of Hongkong Wuxia cinema - the Jinmenju, or Death-Head Tree: - the Jorōgumo, a spider-woman that enchants its victims (details inspired by the Rising Sun boardgame creature) Details on the Jorogumo: The Jorōgumo doesn't just go around charming anyone and then ask them to kill their family. It will choose a solitary person, a woodcutter or boy collecting firewood. It will charm him from hiding, reavealing herself afterwards, and the person sees an otherworldly beauty that tells him she is a messanger fromn the Fortunes or the Kami, sent to gather a few humans to save from the imminent catastrophe. She will show him a vision of the catastrophe (with False Realm of the Fox Spirits), as well as a vision of the near-paradise that awaits him and his family - if they prove themselves worthy of the new world. To trest that, she will have to ask him to do a few things, that will surely hurt her more than him, but are necessary to prove his devotion to the Fortunes, the Kami, and her. The first few things she asks for a small transgressions, without logic or rhyme - steal a broom or a comb from that woman, tell everybody that that woman is an evil witch... and of course do not talk about me. Only later become the demands worse, all with the intention of getting the family to go into the woods, alone or in groups of two, into the protected paradise. What awaits them, of course, is a spider cocoon and an egg, to feed the next generation of Jorōgumo. Even if the PCs quickly find out that the affected is charmed by a creature, he only knows that she is a beautiful woman, and where he saw her in the woods. Actually finding her and getting her to stand and fight is not easy for a creature that can run up trees. In battle, if the charmed person is there, she will order him (not an action) to kill her attackers. If he does not do that on his turn, it will cause him 3 Strife for defying his ninjo. The jorogumo will try to avoid attacking him, but attack others in Fire stance und use Opportunities to cause him 2 Strife, driving him towards unmasking. It is a crafty and smart opponent that will use its abilities to greatest effect: sitting on a ceiling, cliff or tree and pulling foes up, only to drop them, pushing foes into traps, over edges or into damaging terrain, covering pitfalls with False Realm of the Fox Spirits, turning invisible with Cloak of Night and attacking from hiding... A Jorogumo should not be underestimated. - the water yokai Kappa - the Komainu, or Lion Dog, guarding shrines (and chinese restaurents). Also a Rising Sun boardgame monster. Komainu adventure idea: the PCs could be called to a local shrine because the resident kami seems to be unhappy, throwing stuff around every now and then. Investigating, the PCs might find out that a group of burglers tried to rob the shrine a few weeks back, but were chased off when the komainu activated (their claw marks can still be seen near the front steps). Unnoticed, the spirit of a recently deceased local woman entered the shrine at the same time, with the wards down, and became trapped inside when the Komainu returned. It is her spirit that has caused the recent commotion. The PCs will have to activate the Komainu long enough for her to leave without destroying them, as they are parts of the shrine. Aand, for bonus points, find out what keeps the spirit in this world, and solve that problem. - The Living Blade, a deadly remnant of a bloodthirsty killer: - the Long dragon, creature of legend and myth. Not really a PC adversary, but any Far-Eastern RPG should have it available. - a transfer from KanThaiPan, the far-eastern setting of Germany's oldest RPG "Midgard": The Metal-Eating Rabbit PeiTju. - The fearsome Tengu Swordmaster. Many young samurai dream of seeking one out in his mountaintop refuge and becoming his pupil, but those that actually do often come to regret the decision. - The venerable Terracotta Soldier: - the Ubume, a sad woman only wanting to share her burden - The White-Haired Witch, another Hongkong Cinema mainstay: