Legend of the Five Rings

aerolbj

Seriously - this hasn't been posted here?

Alderac Entertainment's flagship CCG title is currently experiencing a golden age of balance. Samurai is probably the most balanced environment I've ever played in.

Here's the website:

http://l5r.com/

They're rereleasing the base set as a banzai edition - collating all the legal rares from the older sets in the block so new players can have access to them; two rares a booster pack and an additional two rares in the starter deck is a great deal.

I've cut down to playing a single deck and I'm still having a hoot.

KrataLightblade

I came to this thread and discovered it was not about the RPG and then I was sad.

DozingDragon

Indeed, Krata, indeed. Although I am not a fan of the card game, I have been hearing good things about it lately.

aerolbj

The RPG was probably the deadliest experience of my gaming experience - I think we rolled up characters every other session or so and introduced them by some deus ex daimyo - we were either that dumb or unlucky.

It was like Call of Cthulhu directed by Akira Kurosawa. And with samurai instead of tentacles.

KrataLightblade

aerolbj wrote: »

The RPG was probably the deadliest experience of my gaming experience - I think we rolled up characters every other session or so and introduced them by some deus ex daimyo - we were either that dumb or unlucky.

It was like Call of Cthulhu directed by Akira Kurosawa. And with samurai instead of tentacles.

Well, in my experience, L5R is only quite that deadly if you play it like D&D. ie, monsters to kill. It's not really built for that, though it can be played that way, although you'll have an insane amount of character death. *L*

DozingDragon

Hence the importance of social skills, and diplomatic/tactical solutions where appropriate. Woo. Also in third edition characters aren't quite as squishy.

ringswraith

I used to play L5R years ago. I stopped right around Pearl edition, I think.

Does anyone have a link to an online rulebook for the current edition? (I believe it's Samurai ed, right?)

PMAvers

ringswraith wrote: »

I used to play L5R years ago. I stopped right around Pearl edition, I think.

Does anyone have a link to an online rulebook for the current edition? (I believe it's Samurai ed, right?)

http://www.l5r.com/images/rules/SE_Preview_Rulebook.pdf

The rules wiki is http://rules.l5r.com/Main_Page

And, hopefully, welcome back. You missed a lot. But, I'm really digging Samurai, especially since it seems like *all* the factions are actually competitive.

ringswraith

Thanks

Well apparently a lot *has* changed. I used to play Brotherhood (gogo Enlightenment) and I found that the Rings themselves have changed. Oh, and no more Brotherhood. ;;

/reads up on rulebook

I also don't know where to get this game or if anyone plays near where I live...

delroland

KrataLightblade wrote: »

I came to this thread and discovered it was not about the RPG and then I was sad.

PMAvers

ringswraith wrote: »

Thanks

Well apparently a lot *has* changed. I used to play Brotherhood (gogo Enlightenment) and I found that the Rings themselves have changed. Oh, and no more Brotherhood. ;;

Yeah, the rings seem to get tweaked a bit every set. If you loved monky-goodness and crazy-ass-ring-manipulation, you may want to check out Dragon nowadays.

Actually, one of the things I like about the new rings is that they're usually never a dead card in your hand. F'erex, the new Ring of Air lets you discard it from your hand to straighten a personality, making it actually useful for clans who won't be able to get the ring into play normally.

One of the other major rules changes is that now all printed actions, unless they specifically say otherwise, are once per battle/turn. Helps cut down on some of the jank.

Oh, and you can ignore a personality's honor requirement by paying two more gold. Huge, especially since it means a early-game honor loss won't completely shut some clans down.

I also don't know where to get this game or if anyone plays near where I live...

Try searching the Stronghold Stores list.

http://www.l5r.com/dojodays/searchStores.php

ringswraith

Thanks for the info! ^_^

I'm looking at the new rulebook now. Man, things have changed.

M.D.

I played the clan wars card game, I also read the books. I love the books. Hell I am even possibly changing my phalla for this.

ringswraith

So I called the (not so) nearest store for L5R cards. They say Banzai edition should be there next week.

I was thinking of getting the Samurai ed. starters for a clan or two, should I wait?

PMAvers

ringswraith wrote: »

So I called the (not so) nearest store for L5R cards. They say Banzai edition should be there next week.

I was thinking of getting the Samurai ed. starters for a clan or two, should I wait?

You might as well. You get a couple extra rares (more chances for that money Doomed Intentions...), and the commons/uncommons in the "random-ish" (Note the "-ish" part, since the SE ones weren't *completely* random, they were pulled from a specific card pool for that clan. So, you'd get cards from the "military" card pool if you're playing Crab, and shouldn't get any honor-running jank) part are from all the expansions instead of just SE. Plus, a updated rulebook.

ringswraith

So I have some questions while waiting.

Have the core concepts of the clans changed?

For example:

Lion was the swarm you with numbers deck
Unicorn was the swarm on four legs
Crab had the big beefy guys and solid defense
Crane played with the Emperor until he cried uncle
Phoenix played with the scrolls
Dragon- who knew what they were up to, apparently self-enlightenment
Scorpion would drag you through the dirt and then some

I may be missing some clans... Where'd this Spider clan come from? What do they do?

PMAvers

That's fairly close. Crab's got a bit more of a "big beefy guys that YOU CAN'T KILL EVER" going these days.

Spider's basically the tainted dregs of humanity working in secret to infiltrate the Empire. They're not a actual "clan", per se, but that's what they're calling themselves. They've got a lot of things that key off hurting things with high personal honor. Take a look at Daigotsu XP2, and you can get a general gist of it just from him. They can play as almost a "dirtier" version of the Scorpion (if you can believe it), since they don't lose honor from their Fate card actions.

Gabriel_Pitt

The Spider clan is the Great Clan of the Shadowlands. Yes, things have changed. :P

ringswraith

So it's the Shadowlands Horde and the Ratlings put together?

Pb

Ratlings aren't (or at least weren't) Shadowlands. I think the Dragons even got a partial alliance with them from tournament results.

Gabriel_Pitt

IIRC, the Spider clan is composed of the humans of the Shadowlands. The various oni and other monstrous unpleasantlries aren't too pleased about the whole deal, and there's been something of a civil war going on over it.

ringswraith

So it looks like Banzai hasn't hit the local store yet.

In the meantime, lore question.

I'm looking at spoilers of the last few sets. What are the Ratlings known for/good at, as a faction?

Also, why do they hate the Unicorn so much?

ringswraith

Bumping for some answers.

Or, is there a website somewhere that would help me catch up storywise to what's happened? Somewhere that has the story for each set/expansion up to the present?

Visskar

After a couple years being away from Rokugan, started picking up cards again recently. At least one of my CCGing friends is willing to try it out from my cards. I plan to stick with my Mantis (been with them since Hidden Emperor) and my friend is leaning towards Phoenix, though I think I have to make a Spider deck to try out too.

http://www.l5r.com/story/ has the current weekly fiction.

JaysonFour

...now I want to go play- looks like it's time to go dig for my ancient decks- a so-so Scorpion military and a Phoenix magic deck. I haven't tuned them since the active set was the one about the Scorpion Coup. I still have a few binder pages full of trade stuff. Are older cards illegal now?

...more importantly, which clan starter would suit someone returning to the game after all this time?

PMAvers

JaysonFour wrote: »

...now I want to go play- looks like it's time to go dig for my ancient decks- a so-so Scorpion military and a Phoenix magic deck. I haven't tuned them since the active set was the one about the Scorpion Coup. I still have a few binder pages full of trade stuff. Are older cards illegal now?

If it's been re-printed in the current arc, the old cards are still good, although you play with the current printing in case it's been re-worded. Gimmie some time and I'll dig up the current legality list.

...more importantly, which clan starter would suit someone returning to the game after all this time?

Honestly, it's all good. Scorpion military's currently pretty damn solid, I think.

Re: Visskar,

hi5. 8-)

EDIT: The current legality list is here:

http://rules.l5r.com/Samurai-Legal_Cards

Visskar

PMAvers wrote: »

Re: Visskar,

hi5. 8-)

I miss my Storm Riders, that was the last period I played in. A few Tsuruchi archers and Yoritomo beef riding on the backs of orochi and munching provinces, good times.

PMAvers

Visskar wrote: »

PMAvers wrote: »

Re: Visskar,

hi5. 8-)

I miss my Storm Riders, that was the last period I played in. A few Tsuruchi archers and Yoritomo beef riding on the backs of orochi and munching provinces, good times.

Indeed. There was nothing quite like swinging with a 12F unit third turn to crunch a province, and munch on anyone that was stupid enough to get in the way... Devoured by the Sea was good times...

And let's not forget the all-mighty


Won me several games by using it at the right time.

Visskar

PMAvers wrote: »

Indeed. There was nothing quite like swinging with a 12F unit third turn to crunch a province, and munch on anyone that was stupid enough to get in the way... Devoured by the Sea was good times...

And let's not forget the all-mighty


Won me several games by using it at the right time.

That's actually after my time. I think the last time I quit was right before Rise of the Shogun.

Picked up some Words and Deeds at a pre-release, though the event didn't happen as it was scheduled and run (rather forfeitted as only 1 player showed) at 3 pm on Wed instead of 5 like I was told. Looks like a good set, and I'm contemplating a Spider Dark Virtue deck.

elkatas

I have been considering playing CCGs once again, as I have spare cash, and USD exchange rate has gone down to toilet. If I would like to start playing L5R, what should I buy? What is the main set, and what are the current expansions? What expansions I should avoid? I have rather reasonable budget (around 300 bucks) to use.

EDIT: Banzai Edition seems to be current main set. Should I buy two booster display sets, or one pre-constructed deck display and one booster display?

EDIT 2: Never mind. It looks like neither of our local gaming stores carries L5R anymore. Although cards can be bought easily from UK, I guess that there isn't any local players left. Fucking shame.