My own thoughts on the Clan Choices coming at World's is that they are going to be more than just "who is in charge of Village X". The Unicorn Clan's Choice revolves around Hisu Mori Mura / Toride, because that was their major development in the storyline. They rejected the Lion's (backhanded) offer of peace, chose the path of war, and took the village. Who gets to be in charge of that village is the next logical step in the story.

The Crane Clan's story has been one of whom does Hotaru listen to and trust. Her sister? Her brother? Kakita Yoshi? I expect their choice to be which family will she draw a close adviser from, someone to be either her voice in the court (Kakita, Doji) or her sword on the battlefield (Daidoji, Asahina in a "seek peace" aspect).

The Dragon Clan's story has been surrounding the rising threat of the Pure Land Ethos in their land, and how ignoring it in favor of becoming involved in the affairs of the Empire will cost them. I would expect their choice to be which family will be tasked with dealing with the Pure Land Ethos in their lands. The Togashi will try to understand, the Mirumoto will try to fight, the Kitsuki will try to root out, and the Agasha will try to use / transform them.

The Crab Clan's story is all about what they are sacrificing for their war. Their choice will likely be choosing which family will take point against the growing forces of the Shadowlands at great cost, since the Crab Clan are all about sacrifice, with the Hiruma favoring indirect warfare, Hida on direct warfare, Kaiu on defensive warfare, Yasuki seeking to hire mercenaries, and the Kuni looking to turn the Shadowlands on itself.

The Lion Clan story is basically about how little control Toturi has over his own clan. With Toturi going Neutral (and focusing on his duties as Emerald Champion), he will need someone to appoint as his hatamoto, to administer his Clan in his absence. Which family will he pull his hatamoto from? This mirrors in many ways the Crane choice.

The Phoenix Clan's story has been about the growing fantastic mysteries of Rokugan, in the form of the elemental imbalance, the appearance of the Djinni, the conflict with meishodo, and other elements. The Phoenix Clan choice will likely involve investigating the disappearance of Isawa Ujina, as that is a recent fantastic mystery which is central to several characters in the storyline. Which family will take point on this investigation, and will they succeed?

Finally, the Scorpion Clan choice is probably the most similar to the Unicorn Clan. The Scorpion Clan's story has been pretty much all over the place, and that is likely not to stop any time soon. However, with their victory over Toshi Ranbo, they will need to appoint a governor. From which family will Shoju pull that governor?

Again, these are just my Thursday morning speculations. I am not a story writer, nor will I likely be tapped for writing any of these. But if the story choices are just all "who is in charge of this really unimportant thing?", rather than a choice which will shape the story of each Great Clan, but perhaps not the mechanics?

It would be hillarious if the top Unicorn player picked Iuichi and the Shogun picked Iuchi Shahai to go to Hisu Mori Toride. Though the chances of a Unicorn reaching Shogun to make this specific decision isn't that great.

15 hours ago, Tabris2k said:

IIRC, the Burning Sands were not part of the L5R IP that FFG bought, so they can’t use that name. Maybe they’ll use the opportunity to change it into something different!

I'm fairly sure that in the RPG beta document, both the Burning Sands and the Ivory Kingdoms were mentioned. That could just be my memory failing me, though, and conflating the "Ki-Rin went on walkabout" with what happened in the AEG story. Haven't gotten my copy of the new Core Rulebook, though.

It has been stated before on this board by David Laderoute (the Brand Manager for L5R under AEG during the sale, so someone involved in the negotiations but under layers of of NDA) that the Legend of the Burning Sands IP was not included in the sale of the IP to Fantasy Flight Games. From an entirely outsider standpoint, my speculation is that this is probably due to the fact that a sale of Legend of the Burning Sands would inherently include the mechanics behind the CCG, which were later used to create the Romance of the Nine Kingdoms boxed set game which was released in promotion with the Gamers 3 - Hands of Fate film written and produced by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. This meant any sale of the LBS IP would inherently come with the licensing royalties for Gamers 3 , which is a separate source of perpetuating income for AEG.

Now, we do know that FFG spent a LOT of money on L5R, but buying the Legend of the Burning Sands IP was probably part of the negotiating points which got left behind. Again, not a lawyer, but there is probably wording in the agreement of the sale allowing FFG to reference the Burning Sands, along with elements of the Burning Sands ("Jewel of the Desert", the Caliphate), but strictly limited in scope. The Ivory Kingdoms, on the other hand, are entirely incorporated into the L5R IP brand, due to the Colonies, the Destroyer War, and all those old art assets. Elements like the Thrane, the Merenae, and the Yobanjin are also wholely owned as part of the L5R IP brand.

Long story short? Do not expect to see MUCH in the Burning Sands, other than vague references to their existence and structure. And if we are going to see anything from the Burning Sands in L5R? It is likely going to be vague and tangential.

17 hours ago, Tabris2k said:

IIRC, the Burning Sands were not part of the L5R IP that FFG bought, so they can’t use that name. Maybe they’ll use the opportunity to change it into something different!

1 hour ago, Hida Jitenno said:

I'm fairly sure that in the RPG beta document, both the Burning Sands and the Ivory Kingdoms were mentioned. That could just be my memory failing me, though, and conflating the "Ki-Rin went on walkabout" with what happened in the AEG story. Haven't gotten my copy of the new Core Rulebook, though.

The Burning Sands were mentioned in Way of the Unicorn back in 1e, but very little was said about them. The details of what existed there were fleshed out in the LBS card game later. I anticipate that the area existing, with that name, is in the IP, but all of the characters, factions and details aren't. Thus, while there is a Caliph, I doubt he'll rule in Medinat al- Salaam.

32 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

The Burning Sands were mentioned in Way of the Unicorn back in 1e, but very little was said about them. The details of what existed there were fleshed out in the LBS card game later. I anticipate that the area existing, with that name, is in the IP, but all of the characters, factions and details aren't. Thus, while there is a Caliph, I doubt he'll rule in Medinat al- Salaam.

Okay. I came into the setting post-LBS game, so I didn't know how much had been previously integrated in L5R before they made LBS, or if it had just been "Yeah it exists" without much development.

16 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Okay. I came into the setting post-LBS game, so I didn't know how much had been previously integrated in L5R before they made LBS, or if it had just been "Yeah it exists" without much development.

It was mentioned in passing (mostly as relates to the history of the Unicorn and being an area they had visited during their long wander) but the bulk of it was not flushed out until they released the LBS game.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

The Crane....dunno. With Toshi Ranbo out of the picture, there's no real military threat in the way there was. So it's mostly looking the other way - now they know the identity of the pirates preying on their ships, I can see a conflict shaping up with the Mantis. Obviously the Crane can't declare war on the Mantis as long as they're a minor clan, but surely there has to be an exemption in that rule for engaging ships actively engaged in piracy? Alternatively, the other big question mark is what Doji Kunawan is going to do, and how he's going to look into his father's death.

I'm pretty sure Minor Clan status only protects you if you don't start the war. The Crane should be free to respond to this naked aggression.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Presumably they'll have options on "what the **** do we do?" but they'll have to figure out how to investigate without anyone finding out unless they want to have a jade champion and jade magistrates dropped on their necks again.              

Heaven forbid the Phoenix be humbled a bit by being reminded that the best shugenja in the Empire might be from some other Clan.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

True, and a good point. The question is whether bruised egos within the Iuchi family is worth more than the damage high-profile use of Meishodo on a battlefront would do to the Clan as a whole.

Nah, when you're faced with opposition that won't accept you no matter what you do you need to be unapologetic and win over the fence sitters through your boldness.

Per the Mantis Clan PDF under Roleplaying, the Caliphate is the "Qamarist Caliphate." (I just bring it up because I mentioned the Caliph earlier)

5 hours ago, shineyorkboy said:

Heaven forbid the Phoenix be humbled a bit by being reminded that the best shugenja in the Empire might be from some other Clan.

You mean like they were during the almost the entire run of AEG's story?

I'd like to see Phoenix hubris get some foundation before we start knocking it out from under them, if only because hubris that never has anything backing it up isn't hubris, it's stupidity.

10 hours ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Per the Mantis Clan PDF under Roleplaying, the Caliphate is the "Qamarist Caliphate." (I just bring it up because I mentioned the Caliph earlier)

The Ivory Kingdoms are also confirmed, and it seems we are getting something called Myantu which I'm not identifying and a Portugal equivalent (that ******* horrid name though).

To quote the beta:

Quote

All Mantis Clan characters have a greater awareness of the following topics:

1. You know many basic facts of life about foreign lands accessible by sea, such as the Isles of Silk and Spice , the Ivory Kingdoms , and the Mweneta Empire , and have likely journeyed to one or more of these places personally.
2. You at least some foreign words from numerous languages such as Ivindi , Banatu , and Portuga , and might fluently speak one of these or even a language wholly unknown in the Emerald Empire.

Which has now changed to:

Quote

• You know many basic facts of life about lands accessible by sea, such as the Isles of Silk and Spice, as well as foreign lands like the Ivory Kingdoms.
• You know at least some words from foreign languages such as Ivindi, Myantu, and Portuga, and might even be fluent.

Interesting PDF. - I hadn't seen it.

9 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

it's stupidity.

You said it, not me.

18 hours ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Per the Mantis Clan PDF under Roleplaying, the Caliphate is the "Qamarist Caliphate." (I just bring it up because I mentioned the Caliph earlier)

3 hours ago, sndwurks said:

No thanks, Piccolo.

Updated OP to include Lion's Story & Choice.

Interesting it doesn't mention the Lion player winning Shogun like Uni.

Imagine selecting the Matsu leader as the Commander.

Notice that the chief Magistrate for Toshi Ranbo is Yojiro. Aramoro must be choking.

9 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Notice that the chief Magistrate for Toshi Ranbo is Yojiro. Aramoro must be choking.

Maybe... maybe not.

24 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Notice that the chief Magistrate for Toshi Ranbo is Yojiro. Aramoro must be choking.

Gets him out of the capitol, at least.

I'd love to see the Kitsu family take this one.

Kitsu would definitely be an interesting choice. Would also be hilarious if they start calling on Arasou for guidance and his spirit starts arguing with Toturi over tactics.

Personally I'd want an Ikoma for the Lion choice just because their nature seems more suited to smoothing out the differences between the different clan troops that would be drawn into the Imperial Legions.

Aside from the fact that an Akodo general has never been beaten in battle you've got...

The Matsu being impulsive

The Ikoma being all lie, cheat, steal

and the Kitsu having a bunch of ghost back seat driving

Kitsu Okura please!

8 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

Kitsu Okura please!

Nah, Kitsu Motso! "Well, I'm not one of them soo-dan says-no, but umm, the ancestors are always watching! But like, not in a creepy way. They just know everything you do. Er, wait, how do I do this again. Ah, heck, CHARGE!"