Ruins & Ronin

I've been a big fan of oriental rpg settings for years. I had the 1e Oriental Adventures, and multiple versions of Legends of the Five Rings. Ruins & Ronin is a new game based upon the Swords & Wizardy WhiteBox ruleset (which Ruins & Ronin is compatible with). While no setting is provided, it references Japan quite a bit, and the classes are designed for that style of game.

The book has a great Pete Mullen cover. Unfortunately, that is the only artwork in the entire book. I really wish at least some of the monsters and the equipment had pictures provided.

There are three classes in the game: Bujin (fighters), Shugenja (magic-users), and Sohei (clerics). People who have played Oriental Adventures should recognize the names. The system is extremely rules-lite, similar to WhiteBox. If you are familiar with any of the older versions of D&D, you should pick up gameplay in a matter of minutes.

The spell selection is straight out of WhiteBox. Nothing new here that I noticed. I think this is a big missed opportunity, as they could have added in some specifically Asian magic, but did not.

The monsters are a weird mix of standard WhiteBox monsters and oriental monsters. I think a number of them could have been eliminated (slimes, oozes, normal ogres and goblins).

There are a number of really cool oriental magic items included, which is great for adding flavor. The equipment and weapons section also was completely samurai-friendly.

There is no honor system in this game, which I was surprised by. It is a feature element of the other oriental games I've been in. This may be a plus, though, as it frees up characters to be more free-wheeling ronin than clan samurai.

Overall, I like the game. It could definitely use some more art, and I think the spells and monster selections need reworked a bit, but the game is a great buy if you want to run a chanbara-style samurai story.

I picked this up last year and we had some good fun with it.
I was a Oriental Adventures freak back in the day.
R&R is pretty basic but it's a lot of fun for those who enjoy the prospect of a light Oriental-ish rules setting to go wild in.

I agree on the art, I would have loved to have seen more oriental themed art in it, and the spells were a missed opportunity, agreed there one hundred percent.

We also use Mike's optional classes, and found them to be fun for more flavor.
http://swordplusone.blogspot.com/

I also did a couple of my own classes for it: Samurai Hobgoblins and Samurai Rakasta as two competing societies which adopted their neighbors ways.
http://osrlibrary.blogspot.com/2010/04/ruins-ronins-samurai-hobgoblins-vs.html

Overall it's got great potential and I think that tool-kit feel is why I dig the white box stuff so much.

I agree with you, guys. It's a great basis for OA type adventuring, either playing it light and just keeping it there, or as a basis to build upon a more elaborated Asian fantasy.

I also agree on the missed opportunity spells represent.

Same thing for the art.

My personal inclination would be to take Ruins & Ronin as the base rules frame and then use the excellent Lands of the Jade Oath by Frank Carr/Rite Publishing as a source of inspiration to build upon it.