Who Doesn't Want To Pretend To Be A Horse Riding Battle Maiden?
Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) is an IP that could have been super strong if logistics didn't get in the way. The world is basically Game of Thrones, but with samurai – and it even came out years before the Song of Ice and Fire books. If you want a game that combines action with political intrigue, then you really should check out L5R. When it comes to TTRPGs, there's actually 2 games set in the world of Rokugan, where L5R takes place. There's the main L5R rpg, which I believe is in its 5th edition. Speaking of 5th editions, the second game is Adventures in Rokugan, which adapts the setting for D&D5e. The main L5R game uses custom dice that (I believe) help really tell in depth stories, while Adventures in Rokugan gives you the ability to focus on more of the action/adventure samurai types of stories.
I'm sure there's many problems, but one of the issues is that the L5R property got bought by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) in 2015. Around that time is also when FFG got bought up by Asmodee, who then got bought by PAI Partners in 2018, and then bought by Embracer Group in 2021. The fun doesn't stop here, as then Asmodee got spun out into a separate company in 2024. The point being that when you are dealing with all of these business decisions, companies tend to focus on their money makers, and TTRPGs are not one of those things.
Edge Studios, which is the Asmodee branch for creating TTRPGs, has done their best to try and put out content for the past 5 years but it always felt like they weren't getting the resources that other branches were. For example, the latest version of the main L5R RPG released in 2018. As of this writing, 7 years later, only 5 of the 8 major samurai families, or "clans" in the setting have sourcebooks. Actually, scratch that, 6 of them now have sourcebooks, as this year Edge Studios released Children of the Five Winds, the Unicorn Clan sourcebook for the main L5R TTRPG.
Whatever Doesn't Kill You Simply Makes You Stranger
Who are the Unicorn Clan? In the setting of L5R, all the "Major Clans" are descendants of one of the divine children ("Kami") of Lady Sun and Lord Moon that make up the foundations of Rokugan's society. After a war where 9 of the children (8 Major Clans + 1 Imperial House) fought against their "evil" brother, Fu Leng, one of these Kami asked to explore the world outside the borders of Rokugan and seeing what other threats were out there. This Kami, named Shinjo, gathered up her family and headed into the west. Over eight hundred years later, her descendants returned to Rokugan riding horses, which the other major clans had never seen before. These descendants of Shinjo were then relabeled as the "Unicorn Clan".
Now, before I get into the details of the book, there's a burning topic that I feel like I have to address. Legend of the Five Rings, and other settings that have taken inspiration from other cultures, have a history of appropriation and/or racism in their books. Over the years, a lot of work has been done to remedy this. I bring this up because while L5R is influenced a lot by Japanese culture, the information and artwork in Children of the Five Winds has a very obvious middle-eastern influence. I, as a white male, cannot speak to how well the game has treated those aspects. Looking at the credits, I do see two people quoted as "Cultural and Sensitivity Review", which is good to see. So I hope that the content is treated with respect. However as I've noted at the bottom of this article, I assume I know nothing so there's always the possibility I'm wrong.
Having said all of that, I feel like the best part of this book is the fiction that is sprinkled throughout the book. I've read many of the short stories/novels that have come out in the L5R setting and they never disappoint. Especially in this book, which uses the Unicorn clan to talk about the areas outside of Rokugan. The first chapter of the book, which takes up almost half of the page count, is detailed with all kinds of information not just on the Unicorn Clan, but the other nations that are close to Rokugan. I've read other setting books that read like encyclopedias, dumping a bunch of "facts" on the reader that make my eyes glaze over. But the worldbuilding in the various stories help keep you engaged and provide context for all of the information that follows.
Since rejoining Rokugan, one of the biggest impacts that the Unicorn Clan has had on the empire is the creation of the "Sand Road". This road leads from Rokugan out west to some of the neighboring markets. This allows western merchants to bring their goods to Rokugan and vice versa. Way stations set up all along the path protect the Sand Road and provide shelter to those traveling on it. As a general rule, foreigners are not allowed to travel to Rokugan. But with the Sand Road, the Unicorn Clan positioned themselves as the "importers/exporters" of the Empire, providing the Clan with money and resources that they needed after having been away for hundreds of years.
The Sand Road and the wilderness beyond its path makes for perfect story telling fodder for RPGs. You could easily have players start in Khanbulak, the city that marks the Rokugan end of the Sand Road. Then have them travel out west, maybe even running into a couple of bandits before taking refuge at a waystation. Then, you could have players venture off the marked route, after which you could have just about anything happen. Children of the Five Winds talks a lot about the Sand Road and the neighboring nations along its path, but there is a lot of ambiguity when it comes to what it is like when you venture off of the Sand Road. Especially if you are wanting a more action oriented game, where players are fighting against renegade spirits or vile creatures – the Sand Road provides a way to get experienced players out of the "familiar" backdrop of Rokugan and bring something new into your games.
The Only Sensible Way To Live In This World Is Without Rules
In the Legend of the Five Rings Core Rulebook, there are a few details on the various families that make up the Unicorn Clan. Vital information, since when you make a Unicorn Clan character, you'll need to be from one of these households. Children of the Five Winds takes that information and expands on it, like they've done in the other sourcebooks. The most interesting bits in here is expanding on the "Battle Maidens" of the Utaku family. These Battle Maidens, mentioned briefly in the Core Rulebook as an educational option for player characters, are a society of horse-mounted female samurai that typically end up leading the entire Utaku family. While horse traditions are all throughout the Unicorn clan, getting the particulars of each family and how they approach using the animals is where these types of sourcebooks shine.
Speaking of other families, the Unicorn Clan is not the only clan to be discussed in Children of the Five Winds. When the followers of Shinjo left with her, a few members stayed behind in Rokugan to speak on her behalf while she was gone. After many years passed and Shinjo and her clan were deemed dead, these remaining followers were moved out of the old lands given to Shinjo and taken to a forest not being used by anyone in an isolated section of Rokugan. In the spirit of the Kitsune Forest that was their new home, these followers were made into a "minor clan" by the emperor and called the Fox Clan. While the forest wasn't home to any other humans, it was alive with animals and various animal spirits. Over the years of the Fox Clan, these samurai grew close with the animal spirits in the forest.
In fact, the samurai of the Fox Clan got closer than you might imagine with the kitsune (fox) spirits – there are several families of the Fox Clan that consist of marriages between samurai and kitsune spirits that have taken human form. Many of the children from these marriages end up becoming the "shugenja" or magic users of the clan, drawing upon the spiritual abilities passed down to them by their Kitsune ancestors. Regardless of whether or not they have fox in the blood, the one common trait that all these magical Fox Clan samurai have is that Fox Clan Shugenja only gain their full potential once they have made a pact with an animal spirit known as a "yōkai".
They Are Schemers Trying To Control Their Little Worlds
The last item in Children of the Five Winds is a premade adventure called "The Lost Writer in the City of the Rich Frog". Shinjo Higuchi, a poet from the Unicorn Clan that uses the alias "Hana-no-Ame", has stirred up a bunch of controversy in some of the courts of the major clans. While working on her latest work, she is hiding in the City of the Rich Frog to let some of the political pressure die down. However, she hasn't been seen in public in over a week, and her publisher has not received any communications from her in quite a while. The adventure comes with 6 pre-made characters, not in the book itself but available on Edge Studios' website. Each of the characters has specifically tailored backstories and reasons for trying to find Shinjo Higuchi. In case players want to use their own created characters, the adventure comes with some standard motivations that the GM can use to explain why the characters are looking for this author.
In true L5R fashion, this adventure is not a hack and slash type adventure, it's an investigation. Chances are, there will be more social combats during this game than actual physical combats, depending on the choices that the players make. It has all the hallmarks of introducing players to the setting of L5R and what makes the game different to other RPGs, while also showcasing aspects of the Unicorn Clan described earlier in the book. Players can participate in a tea ceremony, defend their values by dueling an opponent, and even commune with spirits to try and discover what has happened to the Unicorn poet. If the adventure isn't your "cup of tea" (lol), or you need inspiration of where to take players next after this adventure, the rest of the book is littered with "Adventure Seed" sidebars that can be used to give GMs ideas on how to incorporate the people & places described in Children of the Five Winds into their L5R games.
Conclusion
The information in Children of the Five Winds is going to be mostly helpful to those running the main L5R RPG. However, there is so much setting information packed into this book that even if you are playing Adventures in Rokugan, you will still find helpful information in this book.
Chances are, if you are playing the L5R RPG, then someone in your party is going to want to pick up this book. However, if the Japanese/Samurai theming of L5R has turned you away in the past (too cliché, not inspiring, etc), I would recommend picking up Children of the Five Winds and looking at some of the options that exist outside of the empire of Rokugan for potential RPG stories.
I can't believe that I typed up that whole section on the Fox Clan and not once made a "What Does The Fox Say" reference...
Notes/Disclaimers: I generally assume I know nothing. So if I've missed something, let me know in the comments. If you like these types of posts, consider subscribing to our patreon. Lastly, thanks to Edge Studios for providing a review copy of this book.