Alderac Entertainment Group has announced the upcoming release of a new edition of its Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game. The 4th Edition of AEG’s flagship RPG will arrive in stores in spring of 2010 and promises several new concepts, while also harkening back to the earlier days of the property.

“Our designer’s catchphrase for the whole of the design since he started almost a year ago is that he wants to accomplish a game where you play from the character sheet, so you don’t have to go flipping through the rulebook every time you want to do something,” AEG’s Todd Rowland told ICv2. “We’re making a few changes to try and bring back a little of the early L5R.”

Rowland said that L5R 4th Edition would keep the d10 “roll-and-keep” mechanic familiar to L5R players, while streamlining certain elements, like magic and dueling, and making the Shadowlands “truly scary again.”

Unlike previous L5R RPG releases (3rd Edition came out in 2005), the core rulebook for 4th Edition will have limited storyline information, focusing instead on rules and a broader view of the world of Rokugan and its peoples and clans. Future supplements will flesh out the familiar clans, timelines, and storylines. No price point has yet been announced.

Rowland also gave some details on retailer incentives for upcoming AEG games Infinite City (see “AEG to Release ‘Infinite City’”) and Myth. Both games will offer unique promotional items for retailers who pre-order the game, either direct with AEG or through distributors – city tiles for Infinite City and, for Myth, where players take on the role of a god from historical myth (such as Zeus, Athena, or Quetzalcoatl), stores that carry Legend of the Five Rings will receive a promo pack containing the Hantei kami from L5R as a playable deity in the game if they pre-order.