If Secrets of the Lion is any indication of this trend, then the future SotX books are going to blow us away. I am sorely impressed by this book, and plan on going over it a few more times for things I may have missed. There is a *lot* of information here, and no space is wasted.

My only 'big' complaint about SotL is a minor quibble - there are no example characters in the back, which I find a shame. Newer players are unlikely to have or get their hands on the Way of the Clan books, which had some nice example characters in the back, and I had hoped perhaps to see some new character concepts in the way of the SotX books to inspire new players or be used as fillers for the game masters. In fact, two or three of the more memoriable NPCs I've used were inspired by the sample characters of the WotX books.

Now, let's look at the breakdown of this book. First of all, it's a hybrid book -- no surprise. The hybrid information however is a minority thing, and only for the mechanics (of course). If you are only using one set of mechanics (2E for me), don't worry, as I said, they did not waste any space, and the information that is 'not necessary' does not take up much space at all. And I am *quite happy* to see that anything presented for D20 rules is also presented for D10 rules. No missing mechanics or information this time! :) So, from what I can see, nothing has been cut for space.

The book is 96 pages long, pretty healthy in thickness, which is good to hear for a sourcebook. There is only a thin 'border art' on the outside of the pages, with no 'top and bottom' art as per the WotX books, which means there's more space for the text. The text is also a smaller font than the WotX books, which should give you an idea of just how packed with information this book is. All good news.

Now for my second quibble.

I *love* the cover art. I want the *rest* of the SotX books to be like this. I *wish* AEG would choose ONE style for their books and stick to it. ; )

To wit -- Compare the covers of the 2E books and how they're done, to the Way of the Sam/Shug/Ninj books... there's an obvious change in style. SotX books apparently are going to have ANOTHER style. This being of a close up of a samurai's face, with shadowed background. Stylistically, I think this is PERFECT for the SotX books, and I want them to keep it... it is also, to some extent, reminiscent of the 2E rule books. I prefer this much more than the cover layout for the Way of the Sam/Shug/Nin, even if I did like the artwork on the cover. This is much... cleaner.

Okay, now that I'm done with all that, time to look at what's inside:

INTRODUCTION
The Introduction begins with the usual beginning fiction I've come to expect, introducing a Miya, an Otomo, and a ronin, entering Lion lands. I have to admit, I liked the fiction here, as it opened up with giving an insight into the Lion Clan early. The line 'because a person is honourable does not mean they should be trusted' stood out nicely and made my wife break out into a smile. Very nice.

The usual 'how to use this book' is here, as well as the customs of the Lion Clan. This section is very clear, and there are interesting (and sometimes amusing) tidbits which paint an interesting picture of your typical Lion family. The significant historical events of the Clan are presented, right up to Akodo Kaneka declaring himself Shogun. (Year 1159), and the mechanics for the Celestial Sword of the Lion is presented here.

There are two new Disadvantages presented in SotL: Old, and Elderly. These are useful, and I plan on bringing them into my game (and touching up some of my older NPCs with them), and may use them with PCs who get hit with Touch of Death or similar Shadowlands powers in the future. I have to admit, the mechanics for them are nice, though I'm still curious how to represent aging in general to the game.

I'm a touch disappointed that there were no additional Advantages for the Lion Clan, and was also hoping that some of the advantages from WotL would be revised here and presented for new players. Obviously, new Advantages are not necessary, and there is still a lot of other things here which are more important.

For the D20 player, there are new Courtier abilities for when they go up levels, allowing Lion courtiers to be different from the other Clans. A nicetouch, and I suspect we'll see this for each of the other Clans as well in the future. They have an entire list of Lion-Specific Feats which takes up one page, and where they would be found. Now for d10 players, an entire page+column of D20 information might be considered 'bad', but they make up for it later.

Banners and Standards are mentioned next, reprinted from WC:KA, but revised and touched up. d20 and d10 rules are given for each type, as well as the cost in CP to begin with one and a Koku cost for d20.

Vassal Families are mentioned (and I bet Shawn is QUITE happy to have them here!). I do like how they are presented here, and the mechanics for being one is quite well done and creative. Nice to see, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in future SotX books.

CHAPTER ONE: THE AKODO
An interesting section within here is the description of the Highways of the provinces, what they are like and what to expect when wandering them. These are tied into the map of the Lion Provinces in the back of the book. This brings up something -- The Travelguide to Rokugan that was asked for about three+ years ago pretty much appears now in the SotX books. With descriptions of provinces, towns, and roads for each of the families of the Clans, it is not necessary to produce a travel guide for all of Rokugan.

The Akodo Provinces is next, with lists of Major and Minor Holdings as well as territory outside the Lion Lands that they control, named NPCs, and a few CFSs scattered throughout. It's nice to see the CFS's again, and they can be quite useful for spicing up an otherwise slow night. The towns mentioned have a few locations mentioned for them in some cases, things that might stand out for the PCs. Some of the CFS of course would be best suited for Lion players, but a few tweaks would fix that.

Important NPCs for the Akodo are presented next, then the Vassal Families of the Akodo. Each Vassal takes up one page, and are given an attribute bonus and a starting Glory Rank.

Next, there are four Akodo ancestors, then a new Path/Prestige Class -- the Akodo Wardens. An interesting concept, and I like them. Then comes the real treat:

Akodo-made Armour, and Akodo Blades. (Shawn's influence again, I bet. ;) Both are very nice, and I'm hoping to see similar in the next SotX books, because they provide an additional distinctive feel to the Clans and the importance they put on such things.

CHAPTER TWO: THE IKOMA
The breakdown for this chapter is much like the Akodo chapter, but there are two things that stand out: The Open Hand of the Lion Dojo is presented here, for those playing Ikoma Omoidasu... and Ikoma Omoidasu themselves.

Now, admittedly, the Ikoma Bards of WotL were, for all intents and purposes, a near-unplayable character. You followed other people around and gave them boosts to insight and Glory by saying good things about them. That was your 'technique'. This school is MUCH different, and focuses more on the Bard's roll as a diplomat, ambassador, and courtier, and this is the d10 mechanics to the Courtier Feats listed in the Introduction.

Ikoma Tsunari makes an appearance as an Ancestor, along with a number of others, but you do not see Ikoma Blades or Ikoma Armour. They don't have anything 'mechanical' that sets them apart, and I think that's for the best -- their new School and Dojo makes up for this and I think suits them much better.

CHAPTER THREE: THE KITSU
The Golden Spider Dojo makes an appearance here, though why it wasn't highlighted like the Ikoma Dojo escapes me, you may almost miss it if you aren't looking. The Hall of Ancestors is also presented, as well as the KItsu Tombs, and the Vassal Families are also presented, though one of them can not become Sodan-Senzo.

This section is much like the other ones, though the thing that stands out the most are the Forgotten Ancestors -- those Ancestors who are in Meido instead of Yomi. These Ancestors were either forgotten, dishonoured, or otherwise not allowed to leave and are not being judged... yet. The Kitsu are able to speak with them, draw on their gifts like normal ancestors, and help these ancestors work off any shame they've given their families.

Personally, I find this VERY cool, and I'm simply upset that there aren't MORE of these. I can understand space considerations of course, but I have to say the concept was quite nice. Most characters SHOULD NOT take these ancestors, but they do have rules for such, and explain the hows and whys of someone actually having these ancestors.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE MATSU
This section is much like the previous sections, and Matsu Agetoki shows up as an ancestor. They provide a few nemuranai here for the campaign, including the Golden Armour of the Matsu Family (one of the first OBVIOUS intelligent artifacts of 2E, which is quite interesting), a banner, and the Matsu's ancestral sword. These are quite interesting, and I would assume 'replace' the Lion Clan Armour and Ancestral Sword of the Akodo from WotLion.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE KITSU TOMBS
This section spells out the tombs of the Kitsu family, as you might guess, and provides a sample adventure for the group, giving some ideas on how to use the Kitsu Tombs as part of an adventure, or as an adventure itself. There's a number of interesting things, including a shadowlands creature and the tomb of the Kitsu, as well as the benefits of praying to your ancestors here. All in all, there is a lot here I won't get into, due to not wanting to spoil too much for the GMs who are getting this book.

CHAPTER SIX: BEHIND THE VEIL
This is where we get into the dark secrets of the Lion Clan -- the skeletons in the closet. It deals with a family of Mahou-Tsukai, it talks about the creation of the Legacy of the Forge (as mentioned in Fortunes and Winds), and gives a few adventures for PCs to go into. Again, there's a lot of spoiler information here I won't touch on, but I will say that it's interesting material for the GM to use.

OVERALL
I liked this book, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more. It was well-organized, I saw VERY few errors (double words being the ones I spotted), and everything was quite clear and spelled out for me. This was well worth my money ($25 AME), and I highly recommend it.

Good job!

Bayushi Tashiro
Scorpion Clan Archer