I am looking to get into this game from the ground floor. I have the Core set and am immersing myself in the rule book.

Questions...

Where can I find information about how houses work in the LCG, including focuses and playstyles?

If I get the Sea and Sun expansions will they give me a good starting point for the houses missing in the Core set?

How many chapter packs are in the current environment?

Is there a search engine in the format of L5R Legendary or the Call of Cthulhu database? -yes, I play those and embedded links provided

Is there anything else that would be helpful for a new potential player to know?

Thanks!

Welcome!

Yes, the Sea and Sun expansions will give the two missing houses a real kick-start to make them competitive with the Core Set (and a little more, I'd argue). They also contain a few cardsthat can happily boost other houses. Don't forget that a second (or even third) copy of the Core Set and its cards can really add some beef to the starting decks you get just by duplicating the characters you're after and taking the ones you don't want out.

There are six Chapter Pack sets currently available, each with 6 Packs. The Seventh set has been announced, but not released. All the details are on the wiki page, as are basic house play styles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A Game of Thrones (card game)

www.cardgamedb.com/ , agot.dbler.com/ and www.agotcards.org/ all provide card search functions.

Other than that... just enjoy it

As for the products available for the game, just have a look at the Products page here on the official site; it lists all the deluxe expansions and chapter packs.

Tokhuah said:

Starblayde already posted most of the sites with card databases. Cardgamedb also has an articles section where you can find some articles targeted at newer players.

I urge you to download the FAQ (link is in my signature). Print it out, if you can, and keep it at hand whenever you play. It contains card errata as well as a ton of detailed information and clarification on the game's mechanics. It'll seem intimidating at first, but most of the questions that might come up during play can be answered using that document. If there's anything rule-related that you still need help with, be sure to search the Rules subforum here, or make your own post. People here are usually quick to reply.

Thank you both for all of the information. I will do much bookmarking, downloading, and printing. The house focus information is particularly useful as 2 of them are of interest (to be honest one was already on a rpg level).

One follow-up question: Are all the cards in the Core set from the original ccg (like they did with CoC)? If yes then is there any reason why I shouldn't search for extra copies of cards from the past?

Many are direct reprint scattered over a lot of different cycles, but many have some changes and are not considered tournament legal if they aren't direct reprints. I don't think it would be worth it to try to find old CCG cards to complete your playset, simply for that reason. It would be fun to get them all, and you can make a drafting cube or something, or play casually, but for competitive play, you should just get the core sets.

Tokhuah from The Temple of Lore?

Temple of Lore?!? Those wind swept halls I do remember from a former life... Who are you?

Same name as here I'm a friend of Kerebrus. I've played you on a few occasions when I went to a tourney with Rich.

uuuuh, Warlord players of the world unite.

German Warlord players have been sighted too

(Tyra here)

Haha, Yo Tyra! I'm TaxetTheDark on ToL.

Small world.

It's a Warlord trap!

One more question...

Is there a misprint or misspack in the Core set? I have 2 copies of one of the Dragons in my Targaryen deck...

not a misprint. there are two of the dragon since he can search for a dupe. there are also two robert baratheons.

All of the above is good advice.

Something else you may want to consider before you pick up a bunch of chapter packs is that a lot of the old chapter packs (and the first two House boxes) don't contain full playsets (3 of each card) but they're starting to reprint them in 3x format. The last couple of cycles are in the 3x format, so they're "safe" to buy. Just make sure whatever you're buying is in the new format so you get a full playset.