The sound of the Gion shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the colour of the sōla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind.
From Heike monogatari
If you are one of the many people that has been interested in finding out about how Fantasy Flight have handled the re-invention of the much loved L5R CCG into an LCG you will probably have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of information that they have presented in such a short space of time. (Not to mention the possibility of having been a little overwhelmed by it all).
One of the stand-out differences in the LCG version is the new approach to the in-game economy. Unlike in previous iterations the designers have opted for a flat economy mechanism for the new game. The new economy is also notably not gold, it’s not even Koku. No longer do you buy the services of the personalities (named or otherwise) in order to achieve victory. Instead you basically leverage your Clan’s Fate to influence the presence of characters long enough (hopefully) that they can turn the tide in your favour.
This brings transience to the board state that is totally unlike the previous game, and though very alien in concept, could be exactly the thing to solve the dominated or stagnant board states that were common in the CCG.
There are clearly many people more qualified to analyse the effects of this new mechanism on gameplay than I am, so that’s not really what I’d like to talk about.
As a player of L5R I have always been more interested in the feel of the game, its essence and its connection to the world in which it is set.
So does Fate Economy fit in Legend of the Five Rings? If you have read the information, interviews and AMAs then you will have noticed the use of the phrase “Mono no Aware” as an explanation for the choice of the Fate Economy over the traditional escalating economy of most CCGs So what does that mean exactly?
L5R is at its core a game about Samurai, it borrows heavily from Japanese myth, legend and history. It has also never been shy about the influence that has been taken from Japanese storytelling and it is from this that Mono no Aware comes.
Way back in the 11th Century , during the Heian period , a noblewoman by the name of Murasaki Shikibu wrote what has become known as the first novel ever written – called 源氏物語 Genji monogatari which translates roughly to The Tale of Genji.
Sometime later (in the 18th Century during the Edo period) a scholar by the name of Motoori Norinaga wrote a literary criticism of the work in which he coined the phrase Mono no Aware
He was to use this description in other work and eventually it became his Philosophy of literature.
Later it would become a part of Japanese cultural tradition.
As with most concepts, the phrase is difficult to translate into other languages and has had many changing descriptions over the years.
Mono essentially means "Thing"
Aware is a trickier beast to capture, it is often translated as Pathos* but is more an emotional response than a word. It is the "Ah!" in a surprise or the "Oh"in realisation.
So what’s the gist?
If you like L5R, you will have at least a passing interest in things Japanese. You will then be aware of the tendency for classical Japanese philosophy to focus on the impermanence of things. The arts of Japan have traditionally reflected this view of reality as constant change, sometimes in lament of it, but more often in celebration of it.
In the Buddhist tradition awareness of this fundamental condition is not one of despair but an invitation to revel in the present moment and to find gratitude in any further moments being granted.
Wait what?
OK, basically Mono no Aware is the concept that everything is impermanent and that this fleeting reality is what gives Things their value.
Sakura
Cherry blossom or Sakura is a good example of Mono no Aware in Japanese culture. The importance of Cherry Blossom is based more on its brief appearance on the tree than on its physical beauty. After all is Cherry blossom tangibly more beautiful than say pear blossom or apple blossom? (Ultimately that is a subjective thing. )
Because Cherry Blossom lasts little more than a week, the delight in seeing it on the trees, in experiencing the beauty of it tumbling in the wind is more valuable than the blossom itself.
That’s Mono no Aware (It’s also probably why the fate tokens are Cherry Blossoms)
*(Pathos is itself a tricky thing to translate, having had entire treatise written on it and many essays debating what exactly Aristotle meant by it. Many believe that the phrase “Sunt lacrimae rerum” from Vergil’s Aeneid is closer to the meaning. But that doesn’t really help us to understand the concept as it is itself hotly debated by the scholarly folk.)
So does it fit?
In the world of Rokugan the concept of Void is closely connected to the Eastern philosophies that focus on the impermanence that Mono no Aware refers to.
That moment where you touch the Void, where everything comes together and creates more than the sum of all the parts - that’s the moment when you understand the transience of all things.
The idea that all the heroes and all the bit-part un-named characters are always at the service of their clan and that the Fate that the Clan has accrued through its actions (in a very eastern Karma/Dharma kind of a way) is the means to influence the service and actions of these individuals is one that feels much more in keeping with the setting than the “buying” of them with gold.
Sure it’s going to be weird getting used to the idea that using your Fate to bring your Clan Champion to the field means only having them around for a number of turns that can be covered by the amount of Fate you put on them and that after that Fate is gone the Champion ups and leaves. But it kind of makes more sense than buying them for cold hard cash and holding them in servitude until they die or the game ends. (Not least because Samurai in Rokugan are above dealing with money)
Is it better?
Time will tell. For now it is just different.
Everything is transient, even card games and the rules that govern them
Summer grasses —
the only remains
of warriors’ dreams.
Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694)
