5 minutes ago, WHW said:

But Phoenix and Dragon...they don't mention anyone. So I'm not sure what kind of "anchor" they could get. Makes me fantasizing about them little harder :P.

They mention Togashi Yokuni (and give us his artwork) and Shiba Ujimitsu. And by the story blurb of the Phoenix Clan, it's looking to be a story of "The Loyal Shiba watching in powerless horror while the Elemental Council start melting their faces off seeking Grand Cosmic Truths". Which is basically the Phoenix Clan story I have seen a TON of times in the RPG.

I am curious about this new "heretical Shinseism" that the Dragon Clan must deal with... and I wonder if it is the spreading of the Tattooed Mad Man and the prophecies of Uikku. Just... please change his name from Kokujin. Please, FFG. Please.

Hmm, right. I forgot about these two.
I think the Phoenix needs an Isawa POV character in addition to Ujimitsu, and that Dragon *definitely* needs someone more...relatable to than Yokuni. Thankfully, "find out answers about yourself & figure out weird cult thing" gives a lot of fertile soil for introducing investigative Dragon into the mix who is little more relatable for new reader than potentially a living Kami.

...this all assumes some form of fiction to read, though. Sorry for spamming, I've spent way too much time lately trying to sharpen my writer wits, so this flares tons of "STORY TO BE WRITTEN HERE" alerts :<.

Eh... this is what I meant about recycling character beats that made the Clans in question... hard to use.

Both the Phoenix and the Dragon need to be mixed up in the world in some way- if, as Dave says, we're just watching the Shiba wince as the Isawa push the stupid button and blow themselves up again, it's going to be worthy of nothing more than a yawn.

If we're going to get Phoenix hubris, we need to see how it's justified ('cause AEG gave the hubris with....ZERO to back it up most of the time).

If the Dragon are going to be grappling with issues of individuality, then they can't be incomprehensible monks across the board.

Best solution to Phoenix issue I can imagine is giving us a yojimbo-shugenja pair. Shugenja researches and explains things aloud ("helps her think better :P") to Yojimbo so audience can get exposition it needs, yojimbo can give some insights to offer different perspective, we get to explore fairy unique bond of Isawa-Shiba, and we can have interesting adventures of the two.

Of course this probably won't be a case, because it's a story of "lower level", not globally political enough. Which always felt like a L5R weakness to me; plot lines had to be grand and overarching, while the world really could support something of lower scale stuff. Like that Lion Magistrate dealing with the peasant unrest. :<

But again, you need globally overarching stuff if your players are literally supposed to care about progressing their faction's interest.

...kinda hope FFG figured out a way to do player involvement with the story that allows smaller stuff and personal storylines to thrive. "Choose if X or Y dies, and then the self contained story arc ends, with potential consequences when the time is right" is less setting devastating than "Choose if X or Y becomes an Emperor".

As someone who missed L5R the first time around is there any recommended reading material to give me a reasonable understanding of the story up until this point (apart from all of it:P). Providing FFG picked up where L5R left off it'd be nice to have some background information on clans, key characters and plot points.

Now I'm wondering if Ryoshun (if he exist) will play a different role in V2.

9 minutes ago, BlindSamurai13 said:

Now I'm wondering if Ryoshun (if he exist) will play a different role in V2.

I'd love that.

I wouldn't mind re-imagining of the "Kronos eating his children" paint job, either.

10 hours ago, WHW said:

Scorpion finally looks like it has a "proper" place in the Empire and a function, without looking like moustache twirling villains. I hope that Kachiko will be abandon her "MASTER SEDUCTRESS BECAUSE IM A WOMAN OK?" shtick, instead focusing on "I'M A SCORPION IMPERIAL ADVISOR, YOU FOOL!"; Never was a fan of the, eh, original Kachiko. Refocusing her might help, imho.

In fairness, Kachiko's rep was so good it broke the fourth wall -- in canon, she'd only ever slept with Shoju and Hoturi.

That said, Advisor's a big deal. Not only is this a callback to the posts pre-reboot, it's a promotion for Kachiko, who'd not previously held any inherent title beyond the man she was with at the time.

4 hours ago, WHW said:

- Scorpion is interesting. On the first glance, they have everything; they got a cool Imperial Post, they thrive on Crane's troubles, and in general, it's a good time to be a Scorpion. So how is this exactly supposed to show them in favorable, sympathetic light (other than BADASS EVIL PEOPLE :P)? I hope that success of the Scorpion will be revealed to be their curse. Why? Because Scorpion are trained and born to blossom in the night. They are supposed to dirty their hands. That's their duty.

I would really love a story about Scorpions realizing that their new position is not very good for them. Being in the Imperial Court brings you to light . It binds your hands with expectation. You can't really be the Underhand while living the life of honorable imperials. A story like this would IMHO perfectly sell what Scorpions should be, and paint them in a sympathetic light. Conflict of Duty (IMPERIAL ADVISORS, NEED TO BE CLEAN AND PURE AND STUFF) vs Duty (UNDERHAND, DIRTY AND STUFF) sounds like delicious Scorpion drama to me.

With all due respect, that's not half as scary as the alternative: if Shoju and Kachiko are so visible, what are the Scorpion up to in secret?

In my opinion, the problem with Scorpion in positions of power isn't that they're supposed to be in shadow, it's that the Scorpion with power tend to be very proactive in how they use it to destroy threats the Emperor doesn't see coming -- see also Bayushi Shoju.

That said, the Scorpion had full run of the courts from, what, Honor Bound to Ivory Edition? That's 1999 to 2014, 75% of the game's existence? Far be it from me to say that the Scorpion should lose power, but maybe it's time for Crane to show their chops again.

I hope the Kolat are still a thing. It'd be nice to be back before our cover got blown. And hopefully we can avoid the Crab/Shadowland alliance this time around.

10 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

My hand to god, if they just repeat the same character and plot beats that caused the Dragon, Phoenix, and Unicorn to be oddballs who sat out entire arcs while they got re-interpreted yet again...

Given Steve Horvath's Dragon-love , I'd expect at least the Dragon to avoid that fate. Presumably he understands the pain of irrelevance by now, so hopefully he'll throw the Phoenix and Unicorn a bone or two, as well.

9 hours ago, KerenRhys said:

I wonder if they changed Hoturi and Yokatsu to female characters to make an analogy to the founding Kami. After all, with those 2 changes, we now have a perfect match.

That's a good point. You know, it would make a lot more sense for those two families to be matriarchal. Maybe that's what's going on here. Though honestly, if it were up to me, I'd use this opportunity to throw out the whole patriarchal/matriarchal divide entirely.

1 hour ago, Fumi said:

Though honestly, if it were up to me, I'd use this opportunity to throw out the whole patriarchal/matriarchal divide entirely.

In doing so, though, certain families would lost much of their identity, such as the Utaku.

6 hours ago, sndwurks said:

They mention Togashi Yokuni (and give us his artwork) and Shiba Ujimitsu. And by the story blurb of the Phoenix Clan, it's looking to be a story of "The Loyal Shiba watching in powerless horror while the Elemental Council start melting their faces off seeking Grand Cosmic Truths". Which is basically the Phoenix Clan story I have seen a TON of times in the RPG.

I am curious about this new "heretical Shinseism" that the Dragon Clan must deal with... and I wonder if it is the spreading of the Tattooed Mad Man and the prophecies of Uikku. Just... please change his name from Kokujin. Please, FFG. Please.

What's wrong with name of Kokujin? Is this another "Otaku" thing?

I would prefer if Kami Shinjo remained female if possible. Just saying. And Utaku steeds being exclusive of Utaku. Otherwise, I am totally open to changes that FFG decides. As long as they are good for the game, it will be ok. Changing the story because players from one clan do not want to be the bad guys? That would be an example of bad things.

1 hour ago, Builder2 said:

In doing so, though, certain families would lost much of their identity, such as the Utaku.

I would argue that if the most "interesting" thing about a family is that the women call the shots, something is wrong.

Quote

In fairness, Kachiko's rep was so good it broke the fourth wall -- in canon, she'd only ever slept with Shoju and Hoturi.

That said, Advisor's a big deal. Not only is this a callback to the posts pre-reboot, it's a promotion for Kachiko, who'd not previously held any inherent title beyond the man she was with at the time.

http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Imperial_Advisor

A position she held for three years in the original storyline... Oh, she was also Scorpion clan champion. And Scorpion clan thunder. Three titles she held by herself. The wife of the champion isn't a champion.

Oh, here's a funny thought... so we know they mentioned the Colonies in some ad copy- but with no Iweko, no Destroyer War, IF they actually follow through on that somewhere down the line...

What form would the Colonies take?

And moreover... with a total IP reset, what is the world beyond the Emerald Empire like? We know the Unicorn have been there, after all...

Rokugani conquest of the Ivory kingdoms using Unicorn guides?

1 hour ago, Vlad3theImpaler said:

What's wrong with name of Kokujin? Is this another "Otaku" thing?

Kind of? Kokujin is the Japanese word for a person of African descent. It means, literally, Black (Koku-) Man (-jin). It is not considered the pejorative version of the term for people of African descent (which a little internet research will help you find), but it is still something which I feel should be corrected. For example, I feel making him Togashi Kuronohasu would be better, Kuronohasu translating to "Black/Dark Lotus". Or even Kurojin, which would be written the same but does not carry the same societal implication.

26 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

Kind of? Kokujin is the Japanese word for a person of African descent. It means, literally, Black (Koku-) Man (-jin). It is not considered the pejorative version of the term for people of African descent (which a little internet research will help you find), but it is still something which I feel should be corrected. For example, I feel making him Togashi Kuronohasu would be better, Kuronohasu translating to "Black/Dark Lotus". Or even Kurojin, which would be written the same but does not carry the same societal implication.

Thanks for the info.

9 hours ago, sndwurks said:

I expect we will still see the Scorpion Clan Coup, and it will still lead to the Second Day of Thunder. I would, however, put that event at least six years out at this point. We have a bad situation in plenty of places. But it is rising action where things will be cool.

six years real world? or in game? i wouldn't bet one way or the other on the scorpion doing the coup again this time, but i think its gonna happen sooner rather than later.

I would put the Second Day of Thunder about six years out, real world. Basically, at the end of the first real arc, when cards will be starting to get cycled out.

3 hours ago, Fumi said:

I would argue that if the most "interesting" thing about a family is that the women call the shots, something is wrong.

And I would counter that if Battle Maidens are returning, given the name they should remain a women-only force.

10 hours ago, WHW said:

Best solution to Phoenix issue I can imagine is giving us a yojimbo-shugenja pair.

Like Isawa Tadaka and Shiba Tsukune?

Anyone else notice that they've changed the name of the throne? It used to be the Emerald Throne at this point in the timeline. They story parts now talk about the Chrysanthemum Throne.