What if. . .

. . .there was a crossover between the Legend of the Five Rings RPG by Alderac Entertainment Group and the Tekumel RPG? A couple of pan-dimensional portals connect the Emerald Empire of Rokugan on Ningen-do (the world of L5R) with the Empire of the Petal Throne (Tsolyanu) on Tekumel. The Tsolyani priests must have at least certain magics that allow pan-dimensional travel.

A difference between Rokugan and Tsolyanu is that Rokugan clans only organize the samurai/noble class while Tsolyani clans organize all of society. Similarities between the two empires include rule by an absolute emperor and noble class, organized religions that include spell-casting clergy, and long-established traditions.

So the Tsolyani priests have established at least a number of portals linking their empire with Rokugan, and the Tsolyani government decides to invade Rokugan and add it to the Empire of the Petal Throne. The priests of the 20 official gods of Tsolyanu view the worship of the Kami and Fortunes and the teachings of Shinsei the prophet in Rokugan as worship of false gods and false teachings. Moreover, the Rokugani are likely to see the Tsolyani as lowly gaijin.

The Emperor on the Petal Throne decides to launch a pandimensional invasion of Rokugan, with three portals that lead to the Rokugani provinces controlled by the Crane, Crab, and Unicorn Clans. In Rokugan, the Crane Clan is considered one of the most pacifistic of samurai clans, so the Tsolyani invaders have the edge here. The Crab Clan is more problematic since they are a very militaristic clan, also many of their samurai are preoocupied with guarding the Kaiu Wall against the Shadowlands. The Unicorn Clan might have a strong edge over the Tsolyani invaders since Unicorn samurai often fight on horses, and the Tsolyani legions do not use animals for mounted combat.

The Tsolyani also are more willing to use non-human races like the Ashogga and Pa Choi, while the Rokugani do not use non-human races except for the Crab Clans use of Nezumi (ratlings).

The Tsolyani priests open up a further number of pandimensional portals to Rokugan, including the islands controlled by the Mantis Clan, and four portals to the lands of the Lion and Phoenix Clans.

The Rokugani Empress Iweko I is deeply concerned about these so-called gaijin invading her Emerald Empire, and so she personally organizes her Imperial Legions and the military forces of all her samurai's clans against the Tsolyani invaders. Nine to twelve months after the Tsolyani invaders try to conquer Rokugan, the Rokugani shugenja (sorceror-priests) use their magic to create their own pandimensional portals to Tekumel and Tsolyanu in particular, and the Rokugan samurai invade the Empire of the Petal Throne!

A few things to keep in mind...

Rokugani armies actually will outnumber the Tsolyani rather handily. The Lion Clan alone has almost 400,000 people under arms. Each other great clan has in the range of 150,000 to 350,000. Then the Imperial Legions are probably pretty large too. So at even a conservative 200,000 average per clan, you're looking at nearly 2 million soldiers under arms (Depending on if the Spider Clan sides with the Rokugani and the nebulous numbers of the Minor Clans).

Ritual Sorcery is pretty much a tic for tac situation. Both sides do it in battle. If anything I'd give the Rokugani the advantage since their magic tends to be on a much larger individual scale. One example being a single Shugenja created a wall of water to hold off a massive Shadowlands invasion for 40+ days. Died at the conclusion, but it was a pretty epic scale thing. And that was a Crab, the Phoenix do some real crazy stuff sometimes.

Steel Equipment. Yep, BIG advantage to the Rokugani there. Chlen hide is nice, but metal weaponry trumps the armor and weapons a lot, not going to have much use there.

Ancient Magi-tech stuff advantage to the Tsolyani.

Undead legions? Nothing new to the Rokugani, they've been dealing with the undead for their entire history.

Horses - still a huge advantage. They don't need to charge to be devastating, mounted archery and scouting alone will be an enormous advantage. You can't fight what you can't catch.

Push and Shove - Honestly, I give the infantry line advantage to the Tsolyani. Rokugani are going to be better individual fighters in general, but the Tsolyani actually have a better tradition of line battles and formations compared to Rokugani warfare. That said, the era will matter a bit here. Post Destroyer, Rokugan is going to be a bit better equipped for more conventional battles after all the Yodotai tactics have been assimilated. However, this advantage may not be enough to overcome the rather significant metallurgical disadvantage.


Weather: The Tsolyani better be only invading the South, and hope it's spring or summer. Because Rokugan is quite temperate, and winters can be very harsh, especially in the North.

Well I didn't have this much information about Rokugan. From the sound of it our beloved Tsolyáni would likely be squashed so there goes the idea of a canon Tékumel invasion.