Just a bit too 'bare bones' for my liking. Only 3 classes and 2 of them are spellcasters. I wish there were a skill-based class such as a thief, spy, or ninja.

Other than that oversight a well executed OSR product with a very strong bestiary.

I found myself pretty dissapointed with Ruins & Ronin. The level of content is pretty much limited to giving you permission to change the names of your character classes. Anyone with the ability to just look at their games and ask themselves 'how can I make this more japanese' has nothing to gain from this product.

I picked up the PDF only of this product and at 80 pages (including endpapers) it represents very good value to a group wanting something like a simplified 1E Oriental Adventures for OD&D rules. The price tripped me to rate it 4 stars though if I was rating on content alone it would be closer to a 3.5 star rating, due to a couple of issues I will highlight below.

It is marked as S&W compatible but is basically playable by itself as it has a simple rule system rundown. This is one area I personally would have deleted as the bulk of purchasers are likely to already have access to one or more OD&D ruleset. The product organisation is basically a take on the standard OD&D manual with a distinct oriental adventures twist.

Instead of the fighter you get the Bujin (I approve of the name- samurai is too restrictive, closer to an occidental cavalier class) who gets a few neat proficiencies like 'follow through' strike after reducing an enemy to 0 HP. Like fighters they are a generalist martial class so could be used to portray samurai, ronin, ashigaru or bandits equally. Instead of wizards you have Shugenja, and instead of clerics you have Sohei warrior priests. The remaining race-as-class is the Half-Ogre, a neat idea for a tank that could be used much like a beserker/barbarian class. There is no equivalent of the rogue/thief class which is a shame, it would have been nice to see a yakuza or ninja class, or even a hengeyokai race-as-class fulfilling this role.

You get a nice run down on armour and weapons with a simple yet satisfying piecemeal armour system (though not illustrated, like the rest of the PDF bar the old school cover), and the bulk of the rules. Then comes the magic section. The Sohei spells are essentially cleric spells with a few druid ones thrown in, the Shugenja spells are standard magic-user/illusionist fare. This was a disappointment as with all the iconic eastern mythology around positive and negative qi, feng shui, pakua etc it would have been nice to see a new approach to magic, or even just altered spells fulfilling similar functions. No 'fire shuriken' here. It also adheres to the occidental conception of elements as earth/air/fire/water rather than the oriental conception of air/water/fire/wood/metal, which impinges on atmosphere somewhat. Sohei performing zen based magic while Shugenja use the power of tao, that I could really get on board with.

After a GM's section we hit the bestiary, which while not illustrated is quite descriptive with some cool monsters. Anyone who has seen the animations Ninja Scroll or Wicked City will nod sagely on reading this. But, perhaps in an effort to make a complete game rather than an OD&D supplement, the bestiary is padded with many primarily occidental and Tolkienesque beasties. Do we really need goblins as well as bakemono, ghouls as well as gaki, wererats as well as nezumi, and ogre magi as well as oni, which are fundamentally the same. Much better to have just put in the oriental equivalents, which have slightly divergent evolution from their occidental cousins. Also while there is some discussion of creating more godlike dragons, the ones listed are standard chromatic fare. I would rather see wingless, serpentine lung combining the functions of both the elementals and dragons listed. Sometimes, less is more.

The magic item section does exactly what it should- provide flavourful alternatives to the standard occidental list, sometimes with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Heal yourself with Balm of the Tiger anyone?? No setting information is included, but that is fine, there is general discussion of setting as befits OD&D play.

Overall this book does some things very well but misses a few opportunities. At this price the PDF is well worth the purchase by any OSR group, though you may have to draw on some other sources. Layout is very clean and neat with no obvious typos. This book is good value, a revised and expanded edition could well become a 5-star essential purchase.

I am excited to see this game is getting support, and will be buying the revised edition when it comes out. I have hope that the writer of this series will make another great game or, at worst, an adequate game.

I am currently running a campaign in R&R and I do have to say that my group really enjoys the setting. If this changes at a later point, I will be writing a different review. In my campaign I am using some AD&D 1st ed. Oriental Adventures systems for Family ancestry, inheritance, and the honor system (with the extra stat points for a new character, if the dead character had any honor), which keeps my players from making like sociopathic samurai who just kill everything without proper reason.

I have experience GMing OD&D (BEMCI / Rules Cyclopedia), AD&D 2nd ed. Advanced, D&D 3.5, and Palladium's Rifts. I am hoping to run C.o.C. at some point. The first thing that came to mind when designing my campaign world was the 2nd ed. Birthright setting which has heavily influenced my campaign.

I really enjoy this system but do admit to having to keep mixing in different tricks and traps I picked up while GMing other systems. I did kit bash quite a few other rule systems into my campaign. With that being said, I do believe this is a solid game. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to play a light and fun campaign about samurai in a Sengoku Jidai'esque continent where demons and enemy lords are all around ready to strike at any moment.