1 hour ago, Drudenfusz said:

It's a reference to the game of Go.

Go can get pretty high stakes. Especially Kachiko and Hotaru play the way Kachiko and Hoturi played.

Go

Just now, Suzume Urusai said:

Go can get pretty high stakes. Especially Kachiko and Hotaru play the way Kachiko and Hoturi played.

Go

I think the flavor text might refer to exactly the first meeting of those two. I loved that story that we got in Kyuden Kakita sourcebook (I hope I remember that right, that i was truely in that book) so much and hope that they truly too the whole story to be canon in the new game too, including the fate of the former Phoenix Clan Champion.

Yeah that game killed dozens of people, doomed ten people into bad marriages, caused a minor skirmish, and altered the fate of the next three Phoenix champions.

2 hours ago, hidasaurus said:

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

It does make sense. Nate also pointed out, however, in response to the question of Core Set character death in the story, that a game of L5R represents a possible sequence of events, one out of a potentially limitless number of "What ifs?" which, if we're willing to delve a bit into the AEG era of the setting lore, are all taking place in Yume-do, the spirit realm where dreams are given life. Even should Hotaru die before her time in the ongoing narrative, that's not necessarily what will happen to her in the unfolding "story" of the next match you sit down and play. Thus, we ought to think of these cards as representative of the characters at their prime: the core "essence" of who they are in the story. Not just how strong they seem to be in Chapter 1.

So basically what you're saying is Hoturi is only having a dream that he's now a woman named Hotaru? Living out another life on the wheel of fate.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

"this Friday at 11:00 a.m. CST for an L5RLive Facebook Live Stream with Story Lead Katrina Ostrander and Designers Nate French and Brad Andres to discuss the Crane Clan."

So... only Crane questions this Friday? Someone should ask which is the next faction to spoil after the Crane. Unless podcats/sites start getting cards to spoil before that happens, of course.

11 minutes ago, Wintersong said:

"this Friday at 11:00 a.m. CST for an L5RLive Facebook Live Stream with Story Lead Katrina Ostrander and Designers Nate French and Brad Andres to discuss the Crane Clan."

So... only Crane questions this Friday? Someone should ask which is the next faction to spoil after the Crane. Unless podcats/sites start getting cards to spoil before that happens, of course.

I don't think we'll need to ask. They announced the Crane Festival at the end of last facebook live, they're likely to do them this friday.

21 minutes ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

It does make sense. Nate also pointed out, however, in response to the question of Core Set character death in the story, that a game of L5R represents a possible sequence of events, one out of a potentially limitless number of "What ifs?" which, if we're willing to delve a bit into the AEG era of the setting lore, are all taking place in Yume-do, the spirit realm where dreams are given life. Even should Hoturi die before her time in the ongoing narrative, that's not necessarily what will happen to her in the unfolding "story" of the next match you sit down and play. Thus, we ought to think of these cards as representative of the characters at their prime: the core "essence" of who they are in the story. Not just how strong they seem to be in Chapter 1.

If I remember correctly, they also said that we could have multiple cards for the same character showing them at different points of their life. So, I disagree about Hotaru's card being representative about her "core essence" and not about what she is at this point of time.

1 hour ago, Ishi Tonu said:

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.

I don't think this is right. '-' + 3 is still '-'

2 minutes ago, JRosen9 said:

I don't think this is right. '-' + 3 is still '-'

I don't that's what Tonu meant. I think he is saying that, since the Asahina Artisan is 0/0, she herself won't be blocked from any conflict. The Matsu Berserker which she can be compared to can't participate in a Political conflict. So, basically, a 0/3 without limitation on conflict participation for 1 fate is already quite good as a stat line.

I am loving the flavour of the clans here: Crane are the epitome of political power, with a heavy focus on their characters honour - lose that honour and they weaken considerably. Despite their remarkable political prowess even Doji Hotaru, if without honour, can be bowed by a Lion's Pride Brawler.

20 minutes ago, KerenRhys said:

If I remember correctly, they also said that we could have multiple cards for the same character showing them at different points of their life. So, I disagree about Hotaru's card being representative about her "core essence" and not about what she is at this point of time.

I stand by it, simply because this is probably the only version of her that will always be tournament-legal. The Core Set is always in print, and mechanically serves as the essential entry point in the game, for players who pick it up at release, and others who join down the road, and for casual players who delve no further than the Core Set itself. And given that the story has not been written, I think it's fair to view the Core Set and its contents in the same way thematically. Doji Hotaru is the champion of the Crane Clan. Her card showcases that core identity. Future versions of her will showcase other aspects of her character, which we will learn as the narrative unfolds, but this is her timeline-neutral representation in the game.

One thing regarding the Crane I haven't seen brought up.

I assume the Crane are going to want to gain a lot of honor - either the players will want to push an honor victory, or they'll want to use that honor to power their card draw and dueling. Given that honoring their characters is a big factor in Crane decks, would it not make sense for the Crane to buy more characters with little to no fate investment? If you have 3-4 guys instead of 1 or 2, are able to honor them all before the end of the turn, that nets you 4 honor. Rinse and Repeat.

52 minutes ago, HirumaShigure said:

So basically what you're saying is Hoturi is only having a dream that he's now a woman named Hotaru? Living out another life on the wheel of fate.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Yume-do contains many dreams.

Perhaps one of them has Hoturi's true desire to be the artisan his mother wanted and who is honoured by his father.

I get it. Honestly I think it's a very cool idea. What if Togashi had seen myriad visions of the possible futures, each playing out with different people, different outcomes Etc ? This is the Thousand Years of Conflict reality. Maybe the AEG reality was the mad dreams of Kokujin or P'an Ku? We know other realities exist. A version of Daidoji Uji was a refugee of the Thousand Years of Darkness.

Not gonna lie, Crane's probably the clan I am the least interested in, but I still loved these previews! I'm excited to see what the Core Set holds for the other clans.

Also, when they first started making announcements about this game, I was worried there would be a dearth of information on it until the few weeks leading up to its release. I guess I'm used to how FFG makes X-Wing information releases, where you can go a whole month and maybe get a single article sometimes. Thankfully, they've been incredibly generous with articles for this game. An article every week and a Facebook live stream every other week? Noice!

1 minute ago, Mandalore525 said:

Also, when they first started making announcements about this game, I was worried there would be a dearth of information on it until the few weeks leading up to its release. I guess I'm used to how FFG makes X-Wing information releases, where you can go a whole month and maybe get a single article sometimes. Thankfully, they've been incredibly generous with articles for this game. An article every week and a Facebook live stream every other week? Noice!

I'd assume after release it will go to like their other games where you get an article every couple weeks. You have to remember that they have 250 cards that need to be spoiled over 14 weeks (average of 18 cards per week) and they need to keep up hype during that time. After that its 20 cards every 4 weeks (average 5 cards per week)

43 minutes ago, Jedi samurai said:

One thing regarding the Crane I haven't seen brought up.

I assume the Crane are going to want to gain a lot of honor - either the players will want to push an honor victory, or they'll want to use that honor to power their card draw and dueling. Given that honoring their characters is a big factor in Crane decks, would it not make sense for the Crane to buy more characters with little to no fate investment? If you have 3-4 guys instead of 1 or 2, are able to honor them all before the end of the turn, that nets you 4 honor. Rinse and Repeat.

That seems likely, but may or may not be achievable. It may be more likely you try and get 2 honored and discarded per turn, though there is a lot of honor tech.

Note, there was absolutely no card that said "Gain X Honor", besides the one Unique that conditionally stole 1 from your opponent.

Crane has very interesting arguments about using them as allies.

36 minutes ago, Mandalore525 said:

Also, when they first started making announcements about this game, I was worried there would be a dearth of information on it until the few weeks leading up to its release. I guess I'm used to how FFG makes X-Wing information releases, where you can go a whole month and maybe get a single article sometimes. Thankfully, they've been incredibly generous with articles for this game. An article every week and a Facebook live stream every other week? Noice!

Yeah. While it kind of sucks to have to wait, at least we get tons of more info than usual.

5 minutes ago, Wintersong said:

Crane has very interesting arguments about using them as allies.

Well, when you figure it was they alone who recognized us as the returning Ki-Rin Clan rather than Nomadic Gaijin Horde of the Week, perhaps they see something in our foreign sense of beauty and fashion that the other clans do not.

So we know that bowed characters can still use skills. If a character (like Kakita Kaezin) is bowed and uses his ability, is his unaltered duel stat used, or is it considered "0" for being bowed?

3 minutes ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

Well, when you figure it was they alone who recognized us as the returning Ki-Rin Clan rather than Nomadic Gaijin Horde of the Week, perhaps they see something in our foreign sense of beauty and fashion that the other clans do not.

To quote Barahime sensei:

It's clearly untrue that Unicorn samurai learn their manners from their horses. No horse has ever tried to shake hands with someone.

Pillow Book of Doji Barahime

The way the staff were talking in the last Facebook Livestream it's possible we will never see an "experienced" Hotaru (or anyone,) rather just a different version of her, perhaps with slightly different stats and a different ability or keywords, but not necessarily any stronger.

Ya know, even if you only pay the base cost of 5 for Hotaru, that's ideally a 5 honor gain for that turn (double air ring, leaving play honored.) I mean, if it's not that good, you're probably in a tough spot anyway. You only need +14 to win by honor, in a vacuum. There are 3 Hotaru's in your deck... Heck, with some passive honor gains from other cards, just playing a no fate Hotaru during any turn might just pull you ahead enough to lock in a win.

I want to agree with my purple companions above about throwing in some Crane cards with Unicorn, but I was disappointed that Fashion is 3 bamboo. Ugh. I was also hoping Crane would have a conflict deck way to honor people, but it's on their Way and we can't steal that. The only card I'd really like to splash bows lone defenders. The negates are too dependent on cards we can't access. I'm not sure it's enough. Crane looks far less attractive as a Pony splash after today.

I'm looking at Kakita Kaezin as a solo province breaker.

I'm willing to lose some honor to make sure he wins his battle. Play "Admit Defeat" to bow the last remaining defender. A 5M-7M (depending how you load him up) to bust a province.

Hurray for new cards. There might be close to enough for a Crane Clan deck to proxy but we still need another clan article to pair it with.

Doji Challenger: One of my favorite cards in the preview, you can't really hate a solid stat, high glory personality that can drag opponent's units into battle.

Savvy Politican: A bit expensive for the stats but the passive does make up for it. The Crane love their honorable guys.

Way of the Crane: Staple, but I suspect every 'Way' card will be that way for their respective clan.

Asahina Artisan: A very clan thematic gal that will happen to be a staple for any Crane deck. Yes, she's geared towards more political stuff but a glory stat of 2 and a great cost help keep her flexible and you need to be flexible in this game.

Kakita Asami: Talk about an interesting attacker and she might even compete with the Doji Challenger for slots (why run both?) and play. She's a bit more narrow than the Challenger overall but she can give a swing in honor and help honor runners in a mirror match.

Height of Fashion: Meh. Yeah, it's meh.

Asahina Storyteller: A potential card drawing beast but he does require some setup to get the most usage out of.

Kakita Kaezin: He can just about stop a swarm attack or defense on a province. He might need an attachment to get more usage out of him or to ensure a duel win though, so be careful.

Duelist Training: Geez, talk about a reason to splash the Crane in a Scorpion deck, that alternate honor cost alone seems to scream for them to splash it. It is a repeatable bow effect and potential honor generator (although I doubt much honor will change hands) too. While it's stated as being a great way to help defend from an attack, I can see this being used as much on the attack or defense.

Voice of Honor: A great little counterspell, it will most likely serve as another staple for the clan. It might also serve as a great splash card for certain decks simply because of the honorable effect of a fire ring or other honorable generators. I suspect the Phoenix will like it.

Above Question: Another meh card but it might see some play in a certain meta.

Steward of Law: I think he's real value is that of a decently priced Conflict personality and he certainly fits into the splash category for clans. 3x of him and Voice of Honor is 9 Influence. The effect is ok but I'm not sure if it will come into play often enough to expect it.

Guest of Honor: She feels a bit expensive for the stats but the effect isn't too bad if an opponent is only focused on events. My only problem is the variety of non-events that already exist and with that cost of 4, I think she'll end up getting cut for other options out there.

The Art of Peace: Your typical Clan province so it will see play. Well, the Unicorn one isn't exactly a what I'd want to play. It might end up being a surprise honor/dishonor swing but I don't expect to really do that much. Why? Well, early in the game, you and your opponent should really be 'scouting' provinces for the weaker effects or to prevent huge swings from these types of cards. After all, a single low skill character can potentially break this province will a single event or attachment.

Doji "Notice me Kachiko-senpai" Hotaru: Other than the stats don't feel like what we be given in the fiction, she has a great attacking effect and the ability still works in defense. I'd have to see the other champions to compare her with. She'll definitely see play even if she's just staying around for 1 attack.