Ouch, The Art of Peace looks like it will absolutely wreck Lion swarm...

Still confused as to how we're supposed to tell dynasty and conflict cards apart based on their fronts. Most conflict cards have the little influence bamboo, but Way of the Crane doesn't have any.

I liked the cards, the artwork is great and even though I have always been a Daidoji harrier player (when I could) Political Crane certainly has possibility. Saying that I will still look closely at Crab, Phoenix and Unicorn as potential alternates.

The clan champion is great but at 5 cost (and you really need 6 or 7 cost to make her useful across several rounds and not one and done) she may actually be too expensive. Though bringing her out honouring and leaving does have cheaper possibilities.

Just now, DeJener8 said:

Ouch, The Art of Peace looks like it will absolutely wreck Lion swarm...

Still confused as to how we're supposed to tell dynasty and conflict cards apart based on their fronts. Most conflict cards have the little influence bamboo, but Way of the Crane doesn't have any.

There is a C or D next to the influence bamboo.

1 minute ago, DeJener8 said:

Ouch, The Art of Peace looks like it will absolutely wreck Lion swarm...

Still confused as to how we're supposed to tell dynasty and conflict cards apart based on their fronts. Most conflict cards have the little influence bamboo, but Way of the Crane doesn't have any.

The Way of the Crane is a Conflict card with no Influence value. Which means you won't be able to splash it into non-Crane decks. Which seems extremely appropriate (Way of the Lion also lacks Influence).

11 minutes ago, DeJener8 said:

Still confused as to how we're supposed to tell dynasty and conflict cards apart based on their fronts. Most conflict cards have the little influence bamboo, but Way of the Crane doesn't have any.

There is a small C or D next to the number to tell you which deck. Also, the only card type shared between the decks (that we know of) is a personality and so far all personalities that are in conflict decks have bamboo icons on them

1 hour ago, hidasaurus said:

"Winning a conflict with Doji Hotaru provides a powerful swing, and with six political skill and three military skill, she is a force to be reckoned with. Additionally, with three glory, honoring Doji Hotaru means her military skill value is increased to six, and her political skill value is increased to nine. These are some of the best skill levels in the game, and foes of the Crane will have to dedicate a vast amount of resources to keep up with Doji Hotaru in conflicts."

I was rather surprised to read this with Hotaru being probably the youngest and least experienced clan champion. It doesn't seem to me to leave much room for growth. I am hoping for a similar use of the experience mechanic from old5R where we can see growth in abilities and stats in their "experienced" card versions. But imagine Hotaru growing even minimally in military, politics, and glory as she is already a beast.

I do like the card though and can't wait to give it a play.

Maybe, but it's possible that the other Champions are even more beastly... Aside from that, you might be forgetting about power creep. It is normal in card games for the power of cards to be slightly increasing with each expansion. So if/when an experienced Doji Hotaru comes out, champions will likely be stronger (or need to be).

10 minutes ago, Gaffa said:

The Way of the Crane is a Conflict card with no Influence value. Which means you won't be able to splash it into non-Crane decks. Which seems extremely appropriate (Way of the Lion also lacks Influence).

Obviously it would only be able to affect characters that come out of the conflict deck, since it calls out a character of that clan but thematically I think it would be cool if the philosophy cards "influenced" the way of thinking of the the clan that splashes them, making them free to use. I doubt this will be the case however...

I expect the other clans default cards to have better base stats (most in military) so I dont expect other clan champions to be all higher than Hotaru. Natrually could be totally wrong though

Also just noticed there will a crane clan facebook discussion with the designers on Friday - I hope they keep this level of involvement with all the clans as it gives nice extra information...

5 minutes ago, slowreflex said:

Maybe, but it's possible that the other Champions are even more beastly... Aside from that, you might be forgetting about power creep. It is normal in card games for the power of cards to be slightly increasing with each expansion. So if/when an experienced Doji Hotaru comes out, champions will likely be stronger (or need to be).

I could see Hida Kisada being an 8m/1p/3 glory character. All speculation of course but I don't see The Great Bear showing up for Winter Court unless he's ordered by the Hantei.

Each passing day makes 3 copies of Cloud the Mind ever more attractive in most decks...

EDIT.

Just now, LordBlunt said:

Each passing day makes 3 copies of Cloud the Mind ever more attractive in most decks...

and yup, it is a Crane card. ?

Cloud the Mind is neutral.

Just now, Gaffa said:

Cloud the Mind is neutral.

Ooooohhhhhh.

Nevermind then. ?

2 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

Each passing day makes 3 copies of Cloud the Mind ever more attractive in most decks...

and yup, it is a Crane card. ?

Crane art but-

1 minute ago, Gaffa said:

Cloud the Mind is neutral.

1 hour ago, hidasaurus said:

"Winning a conflict with Doji Hotaru provides a powerful swing, and with six political skill and three military skill, she is a force to be reckoned with. Additionally, with three glory, honoring Doji Hotaru means her military skill value is increased to six, and her political skill value is increased to nine. These are some of the best skill levels in the game, and foes of the Crane will have to dedicate a vast amount of resources to keep up with Doji Hotaru in conflicts."

I was rather surprised to read this with Hotaru being probably the youngest and least experienced clan champion. It doesn't seem to me to leave much room for growth. I am hoping for a similar use of the experience mechanic from old5R where we can see growth in abilities and stats in their "experienced" card versions. But imagine Hotaru growing even minimally in military, politics, and glory as she is already a beast.

I do like the card though and can't wait to give it a play.

This is an evergreen card, and to use Nate's language in the L5Rstream, it likely represents a "snapshot" of her several years down the road, when she has come into her new station more fully.

My initial reactions to some of the Crane cards spoiled:

Doji Challenger - solid stat line, really good harpoon ability considering characters with a (-) skill go home bowed if entering a conflict they don't have the proper skill for. Noice.

Way of the Crane - being honorable will clearly be important so an easy way to make this happen will likely prove worthy of being a staple for a long time. Noice.

Asahina Artisan - effectively 3 politics and a shugenja, to enable important cards that check for that, and no (-) skills so can participate in both conflict types, all at the reasonable cost of 1 fate. Noice.

Kakita Asami - makes political conflicts dificult for your opponent if they were hoping to enter the conflict behind in skill and play cards to pass you. Good stats for political conflicts in general and allows you to threaten all three victory conditions. Noice.

Ashahina Storyteller - shouldn't be too difficult to get your characters honored when playing as Crane so I could see this guy being a card worth investing some significant extra fate into and trying to build some hand advantage. Courtier and shugenja, also gets your a card when he leaves. Noice.

Kakita Kaezin - printed duel ability to create opportunities to gain more honor. Not entirely sold on him being viable as a province breaker. Not being able to choose who you challenge makes the ability weaker, but if he was any different he'd be bonkers. Looks like more of a delaying tactic if you are trying to achieve an honor victory.

Duelist Training - straight up bow the loser duel we were probably all expecting. Nice to see a way to get rid of dead conflict cards. Noice.

Above Question - good protection card vs problematic events but still limited in scope so a decent meta card at the very least.

Voice of Honor - counter events for free, um yeah ok thanks. Getting more honored characters looks like it will be one of Crane's things so I see this as slightly better than Above Question. Noice.

Steward of Law - looks like an acceptable basic 1 fate stat line with courtier trait and dishonor protection. Probably ends up as a meta choice when the card pool gets a bit deeper but I wouldn't be surprised to see people running 3 of him to start or if they have a courtier focus. Noice.

Guest of Honor - oh look it's that "hawt chick at da club" that isn't having a good time and wants to make everyone else miserable with her. Should have been named Doji Downer amiright? All kidding aside this is a really strong card. Noice

The Art of Peace - seems somewhat awkward since you kind of want a bunch of people, on both sides, at a conflict and I'm not sure we're going to see that too much, however, under the right circumstances this can turn the game on its head by enabling all sorts of honored and dishonored shenanagins. Noice.

Doji Hotaru - I was a little surprised at the high politics based on her portrayal in the fiction, but, she's Crane and wouldn't have been made champ if she wasn't worthy and it's not like the clan advisors would let her go to court unprepared. I suppose it represents the Crane plan's prowess in court and Hotaru as the head of the clan gets the big stay to show it off. The ability to use a ring on defense is somewhat Crabish thematically and seems a little awkward but not entirely out of place, and ooooooooh man that 3 glory. Best keep her away from Kachiko so as not to start a scandal and end up with a dishonored 0M/3P Hotaru. That is a big swing and potential liabilty but I think the Crane should be up to the task of keeping their young champion's honor intact. Noice.

52 minutes ago, Samurai Fox said:

I don't really understand Doji Hoaru's flavor text. What exactly does it mean by 'rule of ko'?

It's a reference to the game of Go.

3 minutes ago, Drudenfusz said:

It's a reference to the game of Go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)#Ko_rule

10 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

Doji Hotaru - The ability to use a ring on defense is somewhat Crabish thematically and seems a little awkward but not entirely out of place, and ooooooooh man that 3 glory.

The defense side ability is nice but what make her power really powerful to me is the possibility to double the effect of a claimed ring on the offense. For 1 political conflict won, +4 honors, +2 cards for me/-2 random cards for you or -2 fate on a character, all of those seem pretty awesome.

I feel like a lot of those cards are really strong, but in a good way. Crane Honour Control is seeming pretty solid at a glance.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the previews, especially the Phoenix and the Crab! I'm also quite glad that I'm getting a few copies of this so I can play all the clans!

12 minutes ago, KerenRhys said:

The defense side ability is nice but what make her power really powerful to me is the possibility to double the effect of a claimed ring on the offense. For 1 political conflict won, +4 honors, +2 cards for me/-2 random cards for you or -2 fate on a character, all of those seem pretty awesome.

Fair point. I thought I had a comment about double ring effect but looks like I forgot. Good catch.

So we already know that in the core we only get the Champion as familiar character (even if gender bended). The other named characters are all new.

3 hours ago, slowreflex said:

Hmm... From the article last week I wouldn't have guessed Doji Hotaru would have such an high Political value. She seemed like an emotional teenager in the second half. Maybe I'm not understanding politics right?

2 hours ago, Nickciufi said:

>Acts like emotional teenager.

>Good at politics.

Nope, you understand it perfectly fine.

Hotaru being in love with Kachiko does not mean, at all, she is bad at political games. Just that she is in love. A single fiction does not allow anyone to make a psychological profile of a character. Even less guess stats for a card.

2 hours ago, Hordeoverseer said:

Crane previews before Crab previews? : /

Crane, in their search for perfection, are perfect buttocks to everybody else whenever they can.

1 hour ago, Mirith said:

You just mean Fumio. I think that is all we care about.

/inb4 Toraneko Clan. Nyaa Nyaa!!!

1 hour ago, Matrim said:

The clan champion is great but at 5 cost (and you really need 6 or 7 cost to make her useful across several rounds and not one and done) she may actually be too expensive. Though bringing her out honouring and leaving does have cheaper possibilities.

Seconded. She's one seriously expensive cookie, and in reality will wind up wanting to be around for more than 2 turns since there is ways of getting rid of her fate or pinning her down. for a turn and effectively getting rid of half of her value. And further investment in her only compounds the problem.

That said, unique characters in the Dynasty row can be 'fed' to the versions of them on the field for +1 fate, so that's something worth bearing in mind...

14 minutes ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

Seconded. She's one seriously expensive cookie, and in reality will wind up wanting to be around for more than 2 turns since there is ways of getting rid of her fate or pinning her down. for a turn and effectively getting rid of half of her value. And further investment in her only compounds the problem.

That said, unique characters in the Dynasty row can be 'fed' to the versions of them on the field for +1 fate, so that's something worth bearing in mind...

I think the option of either buying your clan champion, or two lesser dudes, is the point. You will probably dump a full turn's worth of fate to keep your champion alive for a while. However at 3 Military and 6 Political, that is probably worth 2 normal bodies.

52 minutes ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

This is an evergreen card, and to use Nate's language in the L5Rstream, it likely represents a "snapshot" of her several years down the road, when she has come into her new station more fully.

I understand the evergreen legal concept. I am also okay with the idea of cards representing snapshots of certain times. Did Nate mention anything of a card representing a future period of time though? Thing is this isnt like game of thrones where the story is already written. Who knows if Hoturi lives through many cycles or dies tragically before the first expansion cycle ends? Now I assume they wouldn't kill off an interesting character like Hoturi that early, bit the story hasn't been written yet.

I hope that all the evergreen legal cards in the core represent a snapshot of where characters are "now" and not of some point in the future. Let future cards represent future snapshots in time that also show the growth and development of the character.

Hope that makes sense