I don't think we understand how champions will play out, unless I've missed it. However, is the assumption of people that they will just be good unique characters? Or do you think they might have some special rules involved? I'm thinking of maybe something like a Planeswalker in MTG. I don't mean the same rules as a Planeswalker, just that they will be different than a standard character.

Good unique characters. Even the Kami got the treatment in the CCG and I expect similar here.

Champions are good uniques who also mechanically represented clan identities. Daimyo also represented themes particularly well. When and if Kakita Toshimoko makes an appearance, he should very well be the best duelist personality card in the Crane.

I would imagine above-average stats (3s more often than 2s) and actions that are just better than you'd typically find on a character.

I am expecting they will be very efficiently costed and will have strong action abilities. I am guessing that you can only have one clan champion in your dynasty deck, so it will feel special to get him/her in play.

I'd personally prefer daimyos to come with extra fate points on them though or, even better, to fall under a different set of rules than the other personalities.

I'd hate to see them depart after a single round without fate expenditure. Especially since I suspect they'll be pretty expensive, so spending extra fate points on them might be difficult.

32 minutes ago, Serazu said:

I'd personally prefer daimyos to come with extra fate points on them though or, even better, to fall under a different set of rules than the other personalities.

I'd hate to see them depart after a single round without fate expenditure. Especially since I suspect they'll be pretty expensive, so spending extra fate points on them might be difficult.

No reason why you can't try to save a fate point here or there. This game is about choices after all.

I wonder if there will be rules prohibiting multiple Clan Champions from being in play at the same time. A possibility for down the road, but one that will be easy enough to anticipate based on whether a character's Clan Champion status actually appears on their card.

Flavorwise, I hope that this is not the case, as characters can conceivably still appear after having stepped down as Clan Champion, and mechanically it adds a layer of complexity for relatively minor benefit (namely that of curbing the power level on the board).

9 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

No reason why you can't try to save a fate point here or there. This game is about choices after all.

Daimyos will probably be too expensive already. If they're meant to depart too quickly or eat half our economy just to be there, there'd be no point in including them in decks. Unless they're presented with game-changing abilities that is.

10 minutes ago, Serazu said:

Daimyos will probably be too expensive already. If they're meant to depart too quickly or eat half our economy just to be there, there'd be no point in including them in decks. Unless they're presented with game-changing abilities that is.

That or they're not subject to fate in the samevway. Not sure how they would balance that, however.

11 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

That or they're not subject to fate in the samevway. Not sure how they would balance that, however.

A keyword perhaps? Stalwart or Resilient or something similar, possibly with a number next to it, indicating the number of turns they can stay around for free?

Just now, Serazu said:

A keyword perhaps? Stalwart or Resilient or something similar, possibly with a number next to it, indicating the number of turns they can stay around for free?

Could be called Plot Armor for the lampshading.

I am sure ffg has thought through how to make clan champions worth the cost.. whatever that cost is. Sure they may not go in all decks as they may not fit a particular theme, but I would be surprised to see them not played in most decks.

I expect also mostly just keywords. Maybe making Champion itself keyword, which represents then maybe an redirect to or away from the champion, depending if she orders others with the task or takes matters into her own hands (but I might be influenced by the Crane fiction with that thought now and Doji Hotaru's interaction with Daidoji Nerishma).

9 hours ago, Builder2 said:

I wonder if there will be rules prohibiting multiple Clan Champions from being in play at the same time. A possibility for down the road, but one that will be easy enough to anticipate based on whether a character's Clan Champion status actually appears on their card.

Flavorwise, I hope that this is not the case, as characters can conceivably still appear after having stepped down as Clan Champion, and mechanically it adds a layer of complexity for relatively minor benefit (namely that of curbing the power level on the board).

This makes me excited on how this plays out with the Phoenix, with the Clan Champion and the Elemental Masters...

Another way to keep the fate cost manageable is to include an extra cost like discarding a card, bowing your stronghold or bowing a personality.

14 hours ago, Bayushi Tsubaki said:

I would imagine above-average stats (3s more often than 2s) and actions that are just better than you'd typically find on a character.

Above average stats, for sure. My gut tells me that their stats would be more along the 4-5 range, with a similar cost.

Here is my take:

Cost 4-7

Military 2-5 (varies)

Political 2-5 (varies)

Glory 2-4 (again, varies)

And at the minimum of 2 special abilities, printed on the card.

It would certainly be expected to have some mechanism to allow for the character to stay in play for 2-3 turns, such as the built in Fate as Serazu stated above.

I expect players to have to save fate for the heavy hitters. And/or obtain extra fate by other means.

Somewhat new to the lore, but how does a Clan Champion differ from a daimyo? Are they simply the daimyo of the head family of the clan, or does it hold some other meaning?

2 minutes ago, Darguth said:

Somewhat new to the lore, but how does a Clan Champion differ from a daimyo? Are they simply the daimyo of the head family of the clan, or does it hold some other meaning?

I believe every family (for the most part) has a daimyo who is their head. The Clan Champion is the daimyo of head family, and is thus the leader of the entire clan.

11 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

I believe every family (for the most part) has a daimyo who is their head. The Clan Champion is the daimyo of head family, and is thus the leader of the entire clan.

Yep, this is the case for every clan but Phoenix. The Phoenix are led by the five Elemental Masters, who are usually all from the Isawa family. The Phoenix Champion is the head of the Shiba family, but it's not an inherited role. There's a special selection process, or at least there was in the old canon.

I would be shocked if Champions had different fate rules than everyone else. The fate mechanic is the central design element of the entire game. No way do they make these certain characters immune to it.

I am betting they are very big and splashy, and also rather expensive. They will almost certainly use fate like normal, and will have abilities / stats that make the investment worthwhile.

Either you save up fate for a turn so that you can get them with a few fate tokens on them, or you buy them now for a big one turn push.

Now I want a card made of this:

Also, remember that duplicate uniques can be discarded to add a fate to the character. So champions will sometimes end up with a little more staying power just from that, especially for clans that can increase their dynasty flips.

Presumably we will know a lot more next week when Hotaru is previewed.

36 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

Above average stats, for sure. My gut tells me that their stats would be more along the 4-5 range, with a similar cost.

Here is my take:

Cost 4-7

Military 2-5 (varies)

Political 2-5 (varies)

Glory 2-4 (again, varies)

And at the minimum of 2 special abilities, printed on the card.

It would certainly be expected to have some mechanism to allow for the character to stay in play for 2-3 turns, such as the built in Fate as Serazu stated above.

One thing I would be concerned about, however, if my clan champ had higher glory like three or four, is that now they are extremely likely to get targeted for dishonor and would lose any mil or political advantage they had if they were dishonored. Too much risk reward element to play with. I hope they stick to 1 or 2 glory with more rare examples of 3 or higher. Even for clan champs.