30 minutes ago, Shu2jack said:

True. Meanwhile I play Dojo Whispered and the 1-fate shugenja. 6 political for 2 fate. You have no diplomacy defense and I also pop a province - for less resources.

Of course this all depends on board state and what your opponent seems to be doing. I'm excited for this game!

Quite possibly, but of course most honorable Shu2jack-San I would have taken the Ring of Water to bow your Doji Whisperer

1 hour ago, Tam Palso said:

Quite possibly, but of course most honorable Shu2jack-San I would have taken the Ring of Water to bow your Doji Whisperer

This is assuming, of course, that you have - how ever unlikely - seized the initiative. Otherwise I may have to put an extra fate on each. More expensive, but such is the price of sloth.

I suppose you could unbow your most Honored General, but surely he would have to Admit Defeat in a political battle.

Wow, this seems like he is nearly on the same level of a clan Champion. It makes me dread to see what the Lion Champion or Toturi will be like.

Toturi is the clan champion atm

Just now, Mig el Pig said:

Toturi is the clan champion atm

Is he? I thought he was described as being a general and someone else was the champion.

2 minutes ago, TechnoGolem said:

Is he? I thought he was described as being a general and someone else was the champion.

I was wrong;

The Scorpion maintain a tenuous alliance with the Lion Clan’s leader, Akodo Arasou, who seeks to carry out an age-old vendetta against the Crane at the side of his beloved, the warrior Matsu Tsuko. No army can withstand the ferocity and tenacity of the Lion’s warriors or the stratagems of the clan’s brilliant new general, Akodo Toturi.

Akodo Arasou is the Clan Champion ATM as I recall.

2 minutes ago, kpsmith said:

Akodo Arasou is the Clan Champion ATM as I recall.

At least until he can pull a red shirt in the first fiction.

Yeah, Arasou is probably dying in the first fiction. Today's comment about the delay even implies it's taking place at Toshi Ranbo, where he died in the old canon.

4 minutes ago, williamobrien said:

Yeah, Arasou is probably dying in the first fiction. Today's comment about the delay even implies it's taking place at Toshi Ranbo, where he died in the old canon.

They could be setting up the death. And then maybe he dies a few weeks later.

I would prefer Arasou to survive the first fiction. No need to rush stuff. No need to even repeat stuff. Arasou being kept alive for long could be a greater deviation from ccg than Hoturi and Kachiko, and a chance of new story seeds.

Would be typical for lion to have a champion in the core set who's already dead.

1 minute ago, Kakita Shiro said:

They could be setting up the death. And then maybe he dies a few weeks later.

Could be, but I think the use of Toturi's art in the promotion for the core set means he's probably in there. Using the Crane as a pattern for the other clans, where there's no other "big name" uniques besides the clan champ, would imply Toturi is the clan champ. The other uniques we've seen, Isawa Masahiro and Yogo Hiroue, are also new. It could be that Lion doesn't follow the same pattern, but Toturi's art is also pretty similar to the other champion arts we've seen. The only real hesitation I have about it is that I find it hard to believe that Bayushi Kachiko won't be in the core set.

From a storytelling standpoint, it makes sense. The Lion are more interesting with the Toturi/Tsuko dynamic leading the clan than Arasou/Tsuko, assuming they are similar characters to the old canon. And what better way to sell newbies on the stakes of the setting than to kill a "main" character in the second fiction?

Akodo Arasou. Makes me super sad if we don't even get a card of him! We got Doji Satsume in Old5R, but never even an inexperienced version of Arasou. Please don't just give us the same story again!

36 minutes ago, williamobrien said:

And what better way to sell newbies on the stakes of the setting than to kill a "main" character in the second fiction?

I certainly see Arasou dying eventually if they want to keep Toturi as the central figure of the Lion Clan, but it doesn't make much sense to off him immediately. They should build him up a bit, ask us to invest in him, then pull the trigger. Otherwise, why introduce him at all?

22 minutes ago, HirumaShigure said:

...Please don't just give us the same story again!

I don't believe we should be afraid of this given what we have seen so far.

I'm enjoying this new direction to the history of the game.

4 minutes ago, Kakita Shiro said:

I certainly see Arasou dying eventually if they want to keep Toturi as the central figure of the Lion Clan, but it doesn't make much sense to off him immediately. They should build him up a bit, ask us to invest in him, then pull the trigger. Otherwise, why introduce him at all?

You introduce him for the same reason he existed in the original canon - he's the catalyst for the Toturi/Tsuko relationship. If Toturi is quickly established as a capable and respected daimyo, there's little reason for Tsuko to dislike him so much. Sure, you could instead build it over time as just a fundamental contrast in personalities, but when you're spreading an already limited word count across seven clans, sometimes you have to opt for quick-and-dirty methods. Arasou is Uncle Ben. He exists solely to die so that the real story gets told.

Now, I don't think he necessarily has to die in the first fiction from a story standpoint. In fact, you're correct that it would mean more if we had time to invest in him. But the actual product is the Core Set, not the story. If the core set champion is Toturi, which I believe is the case, Arasou's not leaving that first fiction alive.

35 minutes ago, HirumaShigure said:

Akodo Arasou. Makes me super sad if we don't even get a card of him! We got Doji Satsume in Old5R, but never even an inexperienced version of Arasou. Please don't just give us the same story again!

It's not necessarily going to be the same story again, but I think the starting point is going to be broadly similar. The deviation will start once the expansion packs start coming out. I think we're likely to see the Scorpion Clan Coup, and the way it plays out from there will be where the changes get more noticeable. The Crab don't have to turn down the alliance, Toturi doesn't need to the one who kills Shoju, Shoju doesn't need to actually lose, etc.

No Coup, please. You can have a Last Hantei without need of it. And that if we are to assume that the Second Day of Thunder happens.

Maybe I am hoping too much for some serious deviations in events (Hotaru so far is not that big) but that is what I would prefer. Tsuko falling and Arasou standing would be a nice twist. Not one Tsuko fans would love so it is not going to happen.

Akodo Toturi is the unique version of Honored General.

3 hours ago, Mig el Pig said:

I was wrong;

The Scorpion maintain a tenuous alliance with the Lion Clan’s leader, Akodo Arasou, who seeks to carry out an age-old vendetta against the Crane at the side of his beloved, the warrior Matsu Tsuko. No army can withstand the ferocity and tenacity of the Lion’s warriors or the stratagems of the clan’s brilliant new general, Akodo Toturi.

Man, that's actually a huge shift in Toturi's backstory - potentially a chain of huge changes.

First of all, it doesn't look like Toturi's family was pressured into sending him off to the Brotherhood of Shinsei to make way for Arasou in this timeline. It could be that Arasou is the elder brother in L5R LCG instead of the younger one like in L5R CCG.

Secondly, I wonder if there's a similar shift in gender-matches for the 7 Thunders like there were for the Clan Champions. Lady Matsu was the Lion Thunder, and Toturi was her direct descendant because Akodo Daio and Matsu Sodohime violated the traditional taboo prohibiting Kuge from the two lines from intermarrying. There were a lot of implication there:

1 - Toturi was originally shipped to the monastery at the behest of his family because his father married into the Matsu and Toturi was a quiet, contemplative child while his litle brother Arasou had all the makings of prototypical strong, brash Matsu.

2 - It could be said that violations of the Akodo/Matsu bloodline taboo created bad karma and was further compounded trying to marry Tusko to Arasou. That karma leads to the tragic events that ensued.

3 - Arasou and Tsuko were **first cousins** (potentially once removed) in the original storyline since Tsuko's mother was the Matsu Daimyo and Arasou's mother was the sister of the Matsu Daimyo (who was either Tsuko's aunt or Tsuko's mother's aunt). /yick

4 - If Toturi and Arasou aren't descendants of a taboo Akodo/Matsu royal family union, then either the Second Thunders aren't going to be of the direct bloodlines this time or Tsuko - not Toturi - is the Lion Thunder. /potato

16 minutes ago, mlund said:

1 - Toturi was originally shipped to the monastery at the behest of his family because his father married into the Matsu and Toturi was a quiet, contemplative child while his litle brother Arasou had all the makings of prototypical strong, brash Matsu.

Due to the story teams definition of "ship", I was very confused for a second.

2 minutes ago, mlund said:

Man, that's actually a huge shift in Toturi's backstory - potentially a chain of huge changes.

First of all, it doesn't look like Toturi's family was pressured into sending him off to the Brotherhood of Shinsei to make way for Arasou in this timeline. It could be that Arasou is the elder brother in L5R CCG instead of the younger one.

4 - If Toturi and Arasou aren't descendants of a taboo Akodo/Matsu royal family union, then either the Second Thunders aren't going to be of the direct bloodlines this time or Tsuko - not Toturi - is the Lion Thunder. /potato

AEG actually stealth-changed the Arasou/Toturi birth order in one of the 4th Edition books, either Great Clans or Imperial Histories 1. There were quite a few little changes in those books. I don't know if it was from bad/indifferent editing or an actual conscious change. I guess it does simplify things if Arasou is older.

I don't think there's any reason so far to expect their parentage to be different, if it ever gets mentioned. It only really came up as a part of Toturi's character in Way of the Lion. I'm not sure it matters for who the Thunders are. Neither Hoturi or Yakamo were descended from their original Thunders (Hoturi sort of was, Yakamo definitely wasn't).

I think the identities of the Thunders could very well change. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't even decided yet (or if there even will be a Day of Thunder).

Why was there a delay? Just everything pushed back 1 week?

The delay was presumably due to Memorial Day holiday on Monday.