1 minute ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

More correct: alternate universe parallel to the Clan Wars.

The Crane Champion has been genderswapped to female with the name Doji Hotura.

The current Lion Champ is a character who was previously unnamed and is in a relationship with Matsu Tsuko. Akodo Totori is an up and coming general.

The male Unicorn Clan champion Shinjo Yokatsu has been replaced with the female Shinjo Altansarnai.

I wonder if this means we'll get some other "older" generation characters in roles that were never seen much like Isawa Eju as Master of Air (before Uona), or Shosuro Koshurin (Katchiko's father) as Shosuro family daimyo (rather than Kachiko's brother Hametsu.

2 minutes ago, YasukiKaito said:

The more I think about it, the more I like how the rings are being implemented here. It seems like it provides at least a little bit of an ever present meta nullification. So you can avoid those games where you come up against that one type of deck that you know you are screwed from the start.

Thot new ring mechanic looks fun. But making hand discard a core mechanic of the game is not fun at all (one of the things that I most hated in AGoT).

1 minute ago, AtoMaki said:

But the Phoenix description made me laugh the hardest. Take that Phoenix players and all that ...

Meaning what, exactly? It sounded pretty straightforward to me. But I was never a Phoenix player so some of the subtleties of the clan's culture might be lost on me.

I really liked the artwork and to be honest gender swapping looks an option that might lead to a interesting outcome... Maybe we could even have another dynasty instead...

3 minutes ago, SonofScarlet said:

I wonder if this means we'll get some other "older" generation characters in roles that were never seen much like Isawa Eju as Master of Air (before Uona), or Shosuro Koshurin (Katchiko's father) as Shosuro family daimyo (rather than Kachiko's brother Hametsu.

Maybe we could see Hitomi's older brother before his duel with Kisada? That's a character that I would have like to know more about.

2 minutes ago, KerenRhys said:

The current Lion champion Akodo Arasou existed in AEG version of L5R, but died before the beginning of the story. He was shown in the RPG, was already Tsuko's lover and is Toturi's older brother.

1 minute ago, Tetsuro said:

Akodo Arasou was not previously unnamed.

He was well known from the RPG supplements.

Correction accepted. The Wiki was saying that the previous Lion Clan Champion before Totori was his unnamed uncle (which is why I said unnamed). They may have merged the two characters into a "new" one.

1 minute ago, Barbacuo said:

Thot new ring mechanic looks fun. But making hand discard a core mechanic of the game is not fun at all (one of the things that I most hated in AGoT).

Are you referring to the draw mechanic? If so, I'm with you that it's not thrilling in the least. But I find the fate mechanic intriguing enough that I'm willing to tolerate the one in favor of the other.

1 minute ago, FelixPhoenix said:

I really liked the artwork and to be honest gender swapping looks an option that might lead to a interesting outcome... Maybe we could even have another dynasty instead...

I'd say that the Rule 63ing of the setting is mostly intentional: a way of introducing changes that only the diehards will notice or care about, and serves the function of putting aside the assumption that things will play out the same way in the story (especially given the possibility that they intend to honor the CCG's legacy of player interaction with storyline events).

4 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

Meaning what, exactly? It sounded pretty straightforward to me. But I was never a Phoenix player so some of the subtleties of the clan's culture might be lost on me.

There was an argument not long ago in another topic about Maho being a Phoenix thing. The Phoenix players were not happy about this connection. Now, I find it ironic that the very first thing that pops up about the new!Phoenix is that they are getting into Maho. That's kinda middle-fingerish if you ask me.

3 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

Are you referring to the draw mechanic? If so, I'm with you that it's not thrilling in the least. But I find the fate mechanic intriguing enough that I'm willing to tolerate the one in favor of the other.

Winning a earth conflict makes your opponent to discard a card from its hand at random. That's the kind of mechanic that are cool on card, but not cool on game core mechanics. At least for me.

Hm... generic characters (easily the biggest disappointment from this reveal) and this new-fangled fate system both have me wary, but everything else sounds pretty cool.

I especially like the idea of "political" conflicts as a basic component of the game (going alongside "military" conflicts) very much.

I'll probably buy at least one set to try it out.

2 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

I'd say that the Rule 63ing of the setting is mostly intentional: a way of introducing changes that only the diehards will notice or care about, and serves the function of putting aside the assumption that things will play out the same way in the story (especially given the possibility that they intend to honor the CCG's legacy of player interaction with storyline events).

Wasn't one of the first major story decisions about the Mantis and Toturi becoming emperor? They could just be going down that route again and allowing a do-over.

I'm not thrilled with having characters on a timer. I hope you'll be able to reshuffle your discard pile into a new Deck if you run out of Dynasty cards.

I like that you'll have to plan for both politics and the military. Hopefully we'll get some nice Yasuki cards.

I'm intrigued by the strategy that'll go into bidding on draw size.

The new timeline is actually pre-Scorpion Clan Coup. The reboot is disappointing, but not really surprising. And it'll be nice to be with the new story from the beginning.

19 minutes ago, Barbacuo said:

Why do they have to add always a **** dial. I guess that part substitutes the blind bets in duels.

Also, that draw mechanic makes me think that there will not be a multiplayer variation.

Edit: Also, I don't like at all, that event cards are fection specific, making them neutral would improve pack card variety. But, if I'm not wrong, looks like they added some kind of out-of-clan cost to conflict card, as seen in the little stick on the bottom of the cards. I hope there also an option for ooc characters.

Hahaha. Funny you mentioned that about the dial. That was one of my favorite parts!

Also, am I missing something or is there no Phoenix personality er "character" card in this reveal?

16 minutes ago, Barbacuo said:

Thot new ring mechanic looks fun. But making hand discard a core mechanic of the game is not fun at all (one of the things that I most hated in AGoT).

Seems like it's offset by the drawing mechanic to some extent. Instead of receiving 'X' cards per turn, you can compensate for losing cards by bidding more honor.

4 minutes ago, the eigensheep said:

Hahaha. Funny you mentioned that about the dial. That was one of my favorite parts!

I guess everyone has to complain at least about one thing xD

22 minutes ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

The Crane Champion has been genderswapped to female with the name Doji Hotura.

The name is Hotaru ("Firefly"). The similarity to Hoturi is probably intentional, though.

2 minutes ago, Suzume Tomonori said:

Hm... generic characters (easily the biggest disappointment from this reveal) and this new-fangled fate system both have me wary, but everything else sounds pretty cool.

I especially like the idea of "political" conflicts as a basic component of the game (going alongside "military" conflicts) very much.

I'll probably buy at least one set to try it out.

The generic characters are because the Core and the deluxe expansions will be eternal. Dynasty packs will likely have named personalities.

This all looks very exciting! I'm not sure how I feel about the Fate tokens mechanic yet, but I suppose when they took out the "everyone who loses dies" part of the conflicts they had to do something to keep people from just taking over the board real quick! I can't wait to read more about dueling and to give the game a try this August at GenCon!

Banzai!

13 minutes ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

Correction accepted. The Wiki was saying that the previous Lion Clan Champion before Totori was his unnamed uncle (which is why I said unnamed). They may have merged the two characters into a "new" one.

Ah yes, you're right, I made a mistake. In the original timeline, Arasou was Toturi's younger brother and was made the heir to the Lion Clan champion because he was a more accomplished warrior whereas Toturi's was more of a strategist and less of a warrior. However, Arasou died before he could become champion, forcing Toturi to inherit his uncle.

Reading the new Lion Clan presentation, either they switched their birth order or they entirely suppress their family bond.

1 minute ago, Kanpeki said:

This all looks very exciting! I'm not sure how I feel about the Fate tokens mechanic yet, but I suppose when they took out the "everyone who loses dies" part of the conflicts they had to do something to keep people from just taking over the board real quick! I can't wait to read more about dueling and to give the game a try this August at GenCon!

Banzai!

Everyone goes home bowed after a conflict too... even defenders...

2 minutes ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

The generic characters are because the Core and the deluxe expansions will be eternal. Dynasty packs will likely have named personalities.

There's at least one named personality now. The Scorpion have Yogo Hiroue.

Just now, shineyorkboy said:

I'm not thrilled with having characters on a timer. I hope you'll be able to reshuffle your discard pile into a new Deck if you run out of Dynasty cards.

Fate is the mechanic that I'm the most hyped about, and while I'm not expecting to sell you on it in one post, just hear me out.

1) Flavor. In the L5R setting, the massive upheaval that takes place over the course of a single game could never happen in a span of a few years. It would take generations to wipe out an entire Great Clan from the Empire, and putting characters on a fate timer allows players to experience the passage of time in a very real way, as the heroes who forged their path in the early game have passed on, leaving their descendants to honor their legacy. When the Dynasty deck runs out and the discard pile is reshuffled, it represents the cyclical nature of time which is a big thing among the spiritual people of Rokugan.

2) Gameplay. I see the fate system as a way of balancing this somewhat, as players who wish to keep their people in play longer will need to spend more to do so, which will leave them with fewer fate tokens to spend during conflicts; in short, one must choose whether to win through sheer force of numbers, or flexibility in the use of conflict cards. This choice ought to have a great influence on how a deck functions, even between two players running the same clan/strategy.

The thing I love about the Fate system, is that it reigns in the weenie swarm. Which was a big problem with AGOT. You only get one turn with that swarm of 1 cost guys. It is a stroke of genius, and I love it.