Swords of the Daimyo

by David Zeb Cook

Oriental Adventures for Character Levels 1-9:

From the log of the Leaping Dolphin:

"110th Day: The gale nae stops for twa days. My ship is driven before it & the magus is as helpless as a wee babe. Akito names the winds tai-fun in his heathen tongue..."

Drawn by the lure of adventure & riches, a crew of seamen sails valiantly into uncharted seas. In the squalid dens of the port districts, tales hint at a land of untold riches across the waves. But getting there is only the beginning.

Across the waters lies Kozakura, a land of mystery & danger. There you will discover new cultures, strange values, secret powers, & fabulous terrors. For Kozakura is a land of Oriental Adventures.

Swords of the Daimyo is the first module designed for used with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Oriental Adventures rule book.

Swords of the Daimyo includes descriptions & maps of the island of Kozakura, detailed information & maps of Miyama Province of Kozakura, & a series of adventures to introduce old & new player characters to the intrigues of the Orient.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons, Games, Fantasy

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

About the author

David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook grew up on a farm in Iowa where his father worked as a farmer and a college professor. In junior high school, Cook playing wargames such as Avalon Hill's Blitzkrieg and Afrika Korps. "I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn't any role-playing available then," although in college, he was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game through the University of Iowa gaming club. Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb"; the name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z'.

Reviews

[Mindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars = It was ok

This book details a campaign setting based on Japan's history, but it's more like just the flavor and key concepts weren't the same according to what I web searched.

And ok, so I don't understand this setting and civilization. According to the book, the land is ruled by an emperor and shogun and other things, but apparently all of them are children who are just puppets of their grandparents? And a lot of the leaders of towns and key points are just in title only with lieutenants or deputies really governing. What's the point of that? Surely the peasants realize it so why keep up the facade nationwide?

There's also the contradiction in the social classes. It says actors, performers and entertainers are of the lowest class. Accordingly the book says the lowest class is treated as invisible, yet in other parts it says the upper class for some reason also go watch them perform in low class establishments and praise and revere them. Most of the people in power have evil intentions which makes me wonder if it's just a general thing with the whole population.

There are many little bits and stories regarding battle with good defeating evil, but in almost all the cases both sides are destroyed.

Plenty of descriptions of areas throughout the whole maps provided and it gives enough info for people to use as a setting for a campaign.

Overall, it was a chore for me to read.

[Tomaž · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t remember if I played this module back in the day, and I’m not sure I would have known how, the way it’s presented. It’s largely a hexcrawl, and the adventures presented are a bit bare bones, but sufficient to get a sandbox started.