13 minutes ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

Depending on how they set things up it will probably be possible to sit down and convene with your clanmates attending the tournament, and thereby making a decision that doesn't make you into a pariah.

I like the optimism here.

10 minutes ago, fyrm said:

I doubt this will come up too much. This looks like it will be at a rather major tournament, so I doubt any player there won't at least have a feel for which will be best for the clan. Also, if they were saboteurs from another clan picking to ruin the days of your clan, I could understand getting upset [although props to the dishonorable fellows, that is some strong adherence to duty], but to an unluckily lucky clanmate that just seems like a lack of compassion. They tried their best, and got their prize. If you think you can choose better, the go to those tournaments and do better than them.

You haven't played against the Seattle L5R CCG crowd, have you?

There were very good players up there who didn't give one whit about the Story or Clan Loyalty.

6 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

The clans don't have different boxes, and even if they did, they wouldn't have province strength.

The clan strongholds on the other hand...

Don't be that guy.

2 minutes ago, Coyote Walks said:

You haven't played against the Seattle L5R CCG crowd, have you?

There were very good players up there who didn't give one whit about the Story or Clan Loyalty.

If they don't care about Clan Loyalty then there is little worry, they wont retain the Hatamoto title to effect the change.

Hmmm, the Scorpion stronghold seems to want you to be less honorable than your opponent to trigger the effect. I'm guessing that it's most likely taking the Imperial Favor, but it could potentially take an honor or a fate from the opponent/bank.

2 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

Hmmm, the Scorpion stronghold seems to want you to be less honorable than your opponent to trigger the effect. I'm guessing that it's most likely taking the Imperial Favor, but it could potentially take an honor or a fate from the opponent/bank.

My bet is it lets you take 1 honor from your opponent. That lets you bid high without auto-losing by honor / dishonor.

1 minute ago, Yogo Gohei said:

My bet is it lets you take 1 honor from your opponent. That lets you bid high without auto-losing by honor / dishonor.

It would only minimize some of the honor loss. It doesn't help when you both bid the same amount either, as I'm not a fan of a stronghold that can be hamstrung easily. : (

7 minutes ago, Coyote Walks said:

You haven't played against the Seattle L5R CCG crowd, have you?

There were very good players up there who didn't give one whit about the Story or Clan Loyalty.

If they lack clan loyalty, that is fine with me I guess, because if they are so good I would expect them to choose what is best for their best deck, which would be the one they win with, no? If they don't care about loyalty, I don't see them harming other clans out of loyalty, and I only see them helping whoever is getting them to the top. I may not like their ways, but I see no harm in them in this matter.

2 minutes ago, Yogo Gohei said:

My bet is it lets you take 1 honor from your opponent. That lets you bid high without auto-losing by honor / dishonor.

Hmm...that's possible, but I don't know if 1 honor is sufficient to offset bidding high, especially going against someone like Lion. It's hard to say. 1 honor also doesn't feel very strong, especially in comparison to other strongholds that also have higher province strength bonuses.

1 minute ago, Kubernes said:

It would only minimize some of the honor loss. It doesn't help when you both bid the same amount either, as I'm not a fan of a stronghold that can be hamstrung easily. : (

I'm just gonna leave this here:

General conclusion is that Seeker of Earth (Choose 2 provinces) is default the strongest. The two neutral earth provinces are powerful (5 w/ a +5 bonus against either mil or pol) and both together would just be a headache. On top of that Crab also have their province, which is also pretty strong. Phoenix will want the equivalent for void since shameful display and pilgrimage are both pretty good.. Keeper of Fire or Water will also be pretty good since both have pretty useful abilities, though in all reality, most of the Keeper cards are pretty good.

I will also add in my support that I strongly disagree with the part that someone else's story prize effects my deck building options. It is going to generate bad feeling towards the person who does well but doesn't choose the 'correct' choice. There will be a lot of griping because someone is going to get Seeker of Earth and everyone else isn't.

However, the Hatamoto stuff is a nice touch. It is an individual goal that isn't just winning a Kotei, and can have some neat effects and interactions with other players. And it does encourage clan loyalty amongst the top players (Not that the first Hatamoto are going to be 'top' players, as it will just be chosen basically at random).

13 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

Hmmm, the Scorpion stronghold seems to want you to be less honorable than your opponent to trigger the effect. I'm guessing that it's most likely taking the Imperial Favor, but it could potentially take an honor or a fate from the opponent/bank.

Why wouldn't it just be a Skill buff like all the other strongholds? With the condition being you have to be less honourable.

So which clan will sacrifice themselves and pick Void Seeker just so Phoenix don't get it?

What do you guys think about Keepers/Seekers? At first seekers looked stronger but 3 influence is a lot I guess

4 minutes ago, Radix2309 said:

Why wouldn't it just be a Skill buff like all the other strongholds? With the condition being you have to be less honourable.

It could be, however from what can be (sort of) made out from the image, the ability appears to say something like "Action: If you are less [honorable than your opponent, bow] this stronghold - take [something your opponent doesn't want you to take]." The "take" could be a different word, it's a bit blurry in the image and hard to read, but that's what it looks like to me. Could be taking something other than honor, though.

I think Keeper might hinge on your selection of provinces. It is something that will probably get stronger the longer the game goes on with monthly expansions potentially adding more and more province choices. Seeker right now looks like what I'd prefer for any clan though.

35 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

The clans don't have different boxes, and even if they did, they wouldn't have province strength.

The clan strongholds on the other hand...

A cute use of semantics; still, I can all but guarantee there will be That One Guy who has their Core Set box altered to reflect their clan stronghold's province and fate bonus, plus game text, and uses it as their stronghold during play.

6 minutes ago, Mirith said:

...

I will also add in my support that I strongly disagree with the part that someone else's story prize effects my deck building options. It is going to generate bad feeling towards the person who does well but doesn't choose the 'correct' choice. There will be a lot of griping because someone is going to get Seeker of Earth and everyone else isn't.

Thanks for posting this. (you beat me to it)

1 minute ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

A cute use of semantics; still, I can all but guarantee there will be That One Guy who has their Core Set box altered to reflect their clan stronghold's province and fate bonus, plus game text, and uses it as their stronghold during play.

I'll bet that'll happen with at least a few of the deck boxes being given out to the Kiku Matsuri participants, too. It'd be just the right size, even.

17 minutes ago, fyrm said:

If they lack clan loyalty, that is fine with me I guess, because if they are so good I would expect them to choose what is best for their best deck, which would be the one they win with, no they are payed the most to choose? If they don't care about loyalty, I don't see them harming other clans out of loyalty, and I only see them helping whoever is getting them to the top. I may not like their ways, but I see no harm in them in this matter.

Fixed that for you

11 minutes ago, Mirith said:

However, the Hatamoto stuff is a nice touch. It is an individual goal that isn't just winning a Kotei, and can have some neat effects and interactions with other players. And it does encourage clan loyalty amongst the top players (Not that the first Hatamoto are going to be 'top' players, as it will just be chosen basically at random).

How exactly does it promote clan loyalty, though, unless the person would have been loyal to begin with? Presumably, the prizes are awarded when the position is won, and while the perks probably appeal to some, others won't really care about them. The Emperor's Favor bonus, in particular, is going to have small meaning to someone who doesn't care about clan loyalty in the first place.

The thing about the roles is that these rules give a hard cap to the number of factions: 9.

Just now, Tonbo Karasu said:

The thing about the roles is that these rules give a hard cap to the number of factions: 9.

Why 9 and not 10?

Just now, Tonbo Karasu said:

The thing about the roles is that these rules give a hard cap to the number of factions: 9.

You can technically have 10, it's just 1 of those factions gets screwed with whatever is left at the end.

2 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

The thing about the roles is that these rules give a hard cap to the number of factions: 9. 10.

Hm...so seven...plus Mantis...plus Ratlings...plus Brotherhood...

...

...

...looks like you're out of luck Spider. Sorry!

3 minutes ago, Danwarr said:

Why 9 and not 10?

The 9th one has to have a choice, in case their last year's choice is one of the 2 left.

6 minutes ago, BordOne said:

What do you guys think about Keepers/Seekers? At first seekers looked stronger but 3 influence is a lot I guess

Also, keepers get more fate over all. Seekers will only ever get max 2 fate. Keepers will get a fate every time they successfully defend their ring. That can add up, especially with phoenix shenanigans. It is why I wouldn't mind losing Void Seeker in Phoenix, if we instead get a Keeper.

1 minute ago, JRosen9 said:

Fixed that for you

Perhaps, I suppose. But I will include that with the saboteurs, and if people can put up a bounty big enough and they win it over loyalists, and loyalists can't put up a counter bounty big enough, I'll tip my hat to the dishonorable individuals. If this was like AEG koteis, where there are many opportunities, I could be worried, but they will only have 1 shot a year to pull that off. Good luck.

1 minute ago, JJ48 said:

Hm...so seven...plus Mantis...plus Ratlings Naga...

...

...

...looks like you're out of luck Spider. Sorry!

Looks like I got to fix someone's post this time! lol

3 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

The 9th one has to have a choice, in case their last year's choice is one of the 2 left.

Excellent point! I'd go back and re-edit my previous reply, but I already edited it once. As much as I like ribbing the Spider, are they really worth two edits to a single post?