As a new regular feature, we'll introduce you each issue to a member of the team that works behind the scenes on Legend of the Five Rings games. Featured this issue is Andy Heckt, Fan Club Coordinator-DCI

Hey! I've once again been volunteered (selected) as a Legend of the Five Rings guinea pig. My name is Andy Heckt and I'm currently in charge of fan-club operations; that is, everything involving the Imperial Assembly except getting the Herald produced (which is Mindy's job). I came over from Customer Service about the time Herald #11 was going into layout.

Besides learning the day-to-day finances and records of the job, I've had one main focus: to improve the service to, and benefits for, Assembly members.

I joined the Assembly around issue #6. I was writing Way of the Unicorn with Ed Bolme at the time, and I'd put off joining the Assembly for over a year, for one rea- son or another. When I finally joined, I was quite pleased with a number of elements of the Herald, but I couldn't convince my other friends to join. After talking with them for a bit, I realized that the only benefit of being a member was the promo cards; everything else they could get elsewhere. While promo cards are great, I'm now working to improve and provide the services and benefits members receive. I'm interested in getting your input about the fan club's good and bad points, and hope that you'll email me with any suggestions or comments you might have, to help me better tailor the membership benefits and Herald for all of you. After meeting many 0 you at Gen Con this year, I know what a great bunch of people I'm working for.

Ed Bolme introduced our group of friends to L5R after Gen Con one year. We quickly grew to love the game and the story told within it. That winter, Ed and John Wick worked things out for our group to playtest the RPG. As usual, I was the GM for our group. The first adventure I ran later became "Ceremony of the Samurai," the introductory scenario for the RPG rulebook. While continuing work as a waiter, I quickly followed "Ceremony of the Samurai" with a number of additions to the Spell book and many of the Mahos on the GM screen. Ed and I received the contract for Way of the Unicorn shortly after, and six months later I came to work for Wizards of the Coast as its L5R customer service specialist. Six months after that, the fan club position opened. It was a perfect job for my skills and knowledge.

I began gaming when I was five. For over a quartercentury, fantasy and strategic role-playing have been sources of discovering and keeping many friends. To have turned that hobby into a career is the fulfillment of a dream nearly twenty years in the wishing. I hope to see you all at the end of the next twenty, still telling our stories of samurai, shugenja, and the world of Rokugan.

The L5R trading card game has its own positioning. It's a game about story, about community, about verve and style and honor. It is a game designed for, by, and with people who care far more about minute details of the back-story than whether or not the card is worth something on the secondary market."

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