https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/11/22/beneath-below-beyond/

Focusing more on Crab and Mantis clans (oh dear) , follows on from dynasty box 2 fiction

Unsurprisingly perhaps Mantis appear to be making a play to be a great clan (expansion box anyone).

What I have really liked (so far) is how the fictions are intertwining nicely. Kachiko to further her clans names makes Yoshi have the meating with the crab knowing he would be unamenable thus creating more tensions between clans with the Crane, as yet, not realising they are being manipulated. The Crab meantime look to help the Mantis to fulfill war aims when the mantis piracy is one of the reasons the Crane could refuse to help in the first place.

It's playing out how I expected it to honestly, but it was still an entertaining read. I would assume if this culminates in Mantis becoming a great clan we can expect some sort of in game fulfillment of that.

I do worry about them being added too late to the game though. Hopefully they won't be too behind in the card pool when they do finally get released.

I do really appreciate that the fictions on the site and in the card packs are interleaving. It does make it feel like a very coordinated effort.

Looks like FFG might be adding Mantis to the game earlier than a lot of people thought. I was perusing 4chan the other week looking for spoilers, and someone who seemed fairly reputable said the first big box expansion would be Phoenix, followed by Mantis. Don't know if it's true, but the way the fiction has been going makes it seem plausible.

Also what are the chances the Mantis becoming a Great Clan turns out to be a story decision at Worlds/a Grand Kotei? I have no O5R background, so I honestly don't know how integral Mantis are and whether a decision like that could be made by players.

I could see FFG releasing Mantis as a small splashable faction before the big box.

10 minutes ago, Sometimes Y said:

Also what are the chances the Mantis becoming a Great Clan turns out to be a story decision at Worlds/a Grand Kotei? I have no O5R background, so I honestly don't know how integral Mantis are and whether a decision like that could be made by players.

I'd prefer not. Let the players influence details but Mantis being Great Clan, or not, should be realm of FFG.

18 minutes ago, Sometimes Y said:

Looks like FFG might be adding Mantis to the game earlier than a lot of people thought. I was perusing 4chan the other week looking for spoilers, and someone who seemed fairly reputable said the first big box expansion would be Phoenix, followed by Mantis. Don't know if it's true, but the way the fiction has been going makes it seem plausible.

*cough* The Lost *cough*

I was a bit dissapointed in the meeting between Taka and Yoshi. That story felt a bit flat, with neither character impressing me much. When Taka did get abducted in the end I felt a bit cheated to see Taka get so taken in a story...

This really redeemed the previous story. It exposed the abduction as a somewhat planned encounter, and gave Taka some room to be a bit more active and witty. Yoritomo came off as a really cool guy too - so bonus for Mantis clan players. I wouldn't say anything major happened in the story that surprised me, but it felt great to read it.

If Mantis is going to be a great clan I think that was set in stone from the beginning. Especially if they are introducing them as a new faction. From what I understand the lead time on design and printing for the card is quite large. They design several cycles out into the future before the core was ever released.

I feel a bit spoiled considering how much the Crab is featuring in the story this cycle. Two stories with the Unicorn and two stories with Taka. Both those story threads are ongoing and we still haven't revisited the wall to see what Kisada and family think about all this stuff.

I would like to see more of what's going on with the Dragon. I guess it's been a while since we've had any story touch on them since their introduction other than the Dragon bushi in the Hiroue story.

17 minutes ago, Wintersong said:

*cough* The Lost *cough*

Shhh! You'll spoil the surprise if true.

5 minutes ago, TheItsyBitsySpider said:

Shhh! You'll spoil the surprise if true.

I have no idea what The Lost refers to, so I must have missed something!

PDF's got the wrong mon on it. This is clearly a Mantis story. And I effing love it.

Hmm...I feel like they're trying to push everyone into the Mantis Fan Club with this fiction. Need more Phoenix fiction to remind me how awesome they are, too.

33 minutes ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

Hmm...I feel like they're trying to push everyone into the Mantis Fan Club with this fiction. Need more Phoenix fiction to remind me how awesome they are, too.

Well... since its Akodo Kaede now... maybe you should just forget about the Phoenix for a while ^_~

10 minutes ago, Soshi Nimue said:

Well... since its Akodo Kaede now... maybe you should just forget about the Phoenix for a while ^_~

Nah, so far I embrace the alliance with our noble Lion allies. I look forward to splashing Guard Duty some of their cards to great effect.

2 hours ago, twinstarbmc said:

PDF's got the wrong mon on it. This is clearly a Mantis story. And I effing love it.

Seal of the Mantis will fix that.

1 hour ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

Hmm...I feel like they're trying to push everyone into the Mantis Fan Club with this fiction. Need more Phoenix fiction to remind me how awesome they are, too.

The fiction felt like:

I liked it even if I don't trust Yoritomo's true intentions. Despite spiteful Cranes.

1 minute ago, Wintersong said:

I liked it even if I don't trust Yoritomo's true intentions. Despite spiteful Cranes .

Not gonna lie, so far the fiction seems to be shifting from "EVIL LIONZ" to "EVIL CRANEZ". Except maybe still a bit of EVIL LIONZ...sorry 'bout your village, bro.

Just now, Zesu Shadaban said:

Not gonna lie, so far the fiction seems to be shifting from "EVIL LIONZ" to "EVIL CRANEZ". Except maybe still a bit of EVIL LIONZ...sorry 'bout your village, bro.

Every clan and faction has the potential to be villainous, at least from the perspective of some/all of the others in Rokugan (not "evil", because "evil" is a particular thing in Rokugan, generally involving things connected with the Taint of Jigoku). The Crane are quite capable of being ambitious, scheming, self-serving jerks...but so is everyone else. I'd hope, in fact, that over the course of the story's evolution, we would see every clan filling the role of both saint and sinner...often at the same time.

9 minutes ago, DGLaderoute said:

I'd hope, in fact, that over the course of the story's evolution, we would see every clan filling the role of both saint and sinner...often at the same time.

We share that hope. Wait till the Unicorn tries to impose freedom on the Empire.

45 minutes ago, DGLaderoute said:

...I'd hope, in fact, that over the course of the story's evolution, we would see every clan filling the role of both saint and sinner...often at the same time.

We already have that: Clan Dragon.

?

22 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

We already have that: Clan Dragon.

?

We have no need for such shallow appellations.

53 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

We already have that: Clan Dragon.

?

"What is villainous?" one asked.

"What is not villainous?" the other answered.

-- Sayings of the Ise Zumi, paraphrased

havent played O5R when they released Mantis as a clan but I think Im definitely trying them IF they come out.

As I stated over in the Lore forum (which you bastards need to use!), I'm very happy with this one... and IF players get to say how their clans vote on the Mantis, I am gonna lobby hard for the Phoenix to back them- because the Phoenix/Mantis enmity in O5R was so incredibly stale by the end that it's... pretty hard to describe to someone who wasn't there.

Moreover, at this stage, the Phoenix had not yet been the aggrieved party- they'd offered shelter to the murderer of Osano-Wo, and then handed him over when the latter' divinity was proven.

And besides... it'd be a smart move for a coastal clan.

On 22/11/2017 at 1:22 PM, Sometimes Y said:

I have no idea what The Lost refers to, so I must have missed something!

The Lost was a faction of the Shadowlands in the old storyline. Mainly corrupted samurais with enough will to keep a semblance of sanity. They created a sort of ''Mirror Rokugan'' in the Shadowlands under the leadership of Daigotsu (Hantei Daisetsu in the new storyline).

They became the Spider Clan afterwards.