/l5rg/ - Legend of the Five Rings General

Has there been more spoilers or something?

Just that one, from the Art of War podcast. Other podcasts might be getting Imperial cycle spoilers moving forward, I suppose.

New update for the RPG beta is out.

Major points are making Strife and Outbursts vastly less retarded, changing up dueling, iaijutsu kata changes, and some fixes for the stances and action economy.

Threadly reminder that Ikoma Eiji is not a good card.

Have your (You)

I honestly am excited for the expansions for more dynasty cards over the conflict cards. Deck building is so frustrating at dynasty level

I just want to see variety, or be able to run family decks. Kitsu Summoning bullshit deck when?

Rules for characters that have been corrupted by the LD are in Enemies Of The Empire. Goju and Ninube schools are for characters whose loss of identity has been slowed or stalled to use them as pawns.

>Is there a school for the Ninube style of ninja in 4e?
>Shosuro Actor is the best
Best you can do is Shosuro Actor + Child Of Chikushudo (Mimic) + Ancestor (Shosuro).

Shosuro Actor personas would remove the need for acting rolls to remain in character. Mimic would remove the need for acting rolls to physically appear to be that character. That just leaves, clothing and personal effects.

Spirit caller is better and cheaper

No one denies that. But at current you can do both

I misread it the first time and thought it was a reprieve like effect for 0.

I read it now and think it's beyond trash.
It works in Dragon, not Phoenix.

I have an /r/. I've been looking for the traditional style depiction of the Day of Thunder (Pic Related) But I need a way bigger resolution version. Anyone got it?

A card that gives you reliable fate economy is not by any imagination trash. It's not great, but conflict cards that generate fate are cards to at least consider. Any deck that wants to put a lot of fate onto unique shugenjas would be pretty interested in Embrace the Void.

You play Tsukune naked huh?

Doesn't need to be attached to a shugenja. You can attach it to both any character of yours or your opponent as long as you have a shugenja in play.

If I understand things right, you can combo it with Jade Tetsubo to steal fate off an opponents character.

No, you're right, it doesn't need to be attached to a shugenja -- but decks that lean heavily on key shugenja are definitely the best to include it in.

It's very unclear if it combos with Tetsubo at the moment. A very literal reading implies that it does not - Tetsubo returns fate to pools, while Embrace the Void triggers on removing fate, not returning. Similarly, it's unclear if it protects against Kazue, as Kazue moves fate instead of removing it.

That said, it's also possible that the card refunds the fate if a card gets killed; that actually does use the verb 'return'. Which, if true, is indeed quite interesting, allowing a player to have some protection versus assassination on good 2-costers that you're keen to put lots of fate on. Niten Adept 3 fate, anyone?

>that actually does use the verb 'return'
Also, rather. Also uses the verb 'return'. So if Tetsubo works, then so does that. But it does remain to be seen if 'return' triggers the card.

I really wish the wording in the L5R LCG was more pedantic similar to the wording in MTG cards so they are to be taken at literal value than as a general implied meaning as it is now. For instance every mention of the word "Choose" in the LCG should really just say "target" or "chosen target character/event/province etc." Because of the lack of proper specific wording in certain cases it's actually made Doji Hotaru and Akodo Toturi not work as intended when they should have it written to be much more specific like they have on the card Display of Power.

The new RPG changes are interesting. The change from 'Wounds' to 'Fatigue' is a minor one but it definitely helps the duel issues before (You want to put a crit injury on the other guy to win a duel, or a crit of 5+ if it's to first blood.).

People got a bit less mobile in general but water looks like a much more useful and versatile element now.

This. Mtg has completely codified their card language, making ambigous card texts a rare thing.

They have also been revising, clarifying and codifying the card language for 24 years to get that pedantic. The LCG is only a few months old and you can't really use Magic's card language for L5R.

I ended up making my own. I think photoshop did ok with the resize. Tapped up the contrast as well.

Good spot.
Pastebin has been updated.

Neat.

That being said, LCG language in general has been being refined for a while. They keep changing things for different games, but the timing of Action, Reaction, and Interrupt is pretty established.

How about the Mantis file?

Eh, right now we've got barely anything to go on. A clan and sorta family (Was hoping they'd have more than a single family, since a lot of chargen options come from that and the Mantis have multiple even before they started eating other clans)

Mantis only had the Gusai/Yoritomo (same family) before they ate the Centipede (Moshi) and Wasp (Tsuruchi).

Lack of a Mantis school is where the let down was.

I was hoping they'd give a little in the way of options (Since, as said, a lot of your chargen stuff comes from your choice of family)

Only 1 Ring and 2 skills come from Family. So not many options come from Family.

The update added a lot more customization to the 20 questions.

Question 7 is now +5 glory or choice of Skill you do not already have ranks in. Instead of the skill being determined by clan.

Questions 14 and 16 give addition items of the player's choice.

Question 17 gives a rank in a skill of your choice that you do not have ranks in.

Question 18 now has GMs option to have the heritages be player choice.

Technically, at this time in the lore, they don't have a definitive family at all. The Gusai have been disbanded for centuries, and while Yoritomo is alive, he hasn't done anything that would net him a family name. Right now a Mantis character is [Name] of the Mantis (Clan).

Although if you're really desperate for mechanical groupings, you could always split them into three or four semi-factions based on which Mantis leader they most strongly resonate with. Some can feel strongly that the legacy of Kaimetsu-uo is still going strong, some can secretly identify as Gusai survivors, some can be riding Yoritomo's (mighty is he) new wave, and then the fourth group can be mangy minor clanners who are probably all pirates and don't have a strong legacy.

A friend and I were playing about with it when the first beta came out for minor clans. Our idea was the honestly rather simple 'Minor clans get a choice between 2 possible skills and 2 possible stats rather than them being a set one of each for the clan'. The justification being 'without the resources of a full major clan, each minor clan member needs to be a lot more flexible and can't afford to be as set in their ways'.

Like for the Centipede we went:

Centipede
Choose 1 from each: Void or Air; Courtesy or Culture
29 status.
Centipede favor Honor and spurn Sincerity.

Moshi Family +Fire, +Theology, +Meditation

So every member of the Centipede is good at Theology and Meditation and has SOME Fire but they then get to pick Void or Air, Courtesy or Culture.

Strife is a hell of a lot better now, too. Doesn't nearly take away as much agency as it did before while making it more interesting of a mechanic.

Mind you, holding it in is bloody painful. A lot of good dice faces have strife results on them.

Yeah, but at the very least you actually have options now, so if you don't want your character to be a ticking time bomb of emotions you don't HAVE to be.

Also: Makes the Shiba everyone's best friend forever. He can remove strife results from dice. Which means you then get to keep them.

The mighty power of the Shiba family weapon: The Spray Bottle.

Redpill me on your favorite clan Veeky Forums

>The mighty power of the Shiba family weapon: The Spray Bottle.
?

You use spray bottles to keep cats from doing things you don't like: Crapping on the couch, attacking birds, opening black scrolls etc.

It only really affects the Ring Dice. The Skill Dice is cool even while being Compromised.

So, say that you have a shadowlands-aligned character in deep cover within another great clan. Now say that said character has managed to worm his way into this year's imperial winter court, with the intent to assassinate the emperor and leave his clan in a very uncomfortable position, possibly taking the blame for the emperor's death. Now say that said character is inside the Scorpion clan, the winter court is being hosted at Kyuden Bayushi, and they're equipped for stealth and also have access to Maho, but have to keep a low profile so they don't get caught before getting to the emperor.

What maho spells would you suggest said character have, for situations where he needs to be sneaky and employ a little dark magic to get his way?

Ah. That would explain it. I use a boot to keep cats from doing things I don't like - generally getting near my legs is enough.

Man, you guys need to bump the threads more, this is getting sad.

there's not much to talk about. card games are waiting on expansions and the rpg isn't set solid yet.

>the rpg isn't set solid yet
The beta is out to talk about, and the first update has just been released.

Has anyone checked the statistics sheet and know why Unicorn decks in the LCG have a lower win rate than other clans?

Scorpion is popular and their best cards are 2 costers.

Unicorn has bunch of meh stuff and they are bit too focused on military attacks exclusively.

>Too are focused in early game win and swarm, lion does it better

>no way to control your opponent nor have something to keep your offensive stable if it isnt spamming Charge! or low cost criatures, lion still does it better

>if you get countered making a military conflict you can litterally do nothing in a political conflict

>seriously, they have like just one creature to win by political or to even use it as a defensive body

>It is so focused on military conflicts you depend on one single card to take advantage in political

>It can literally die by dishonor if you dont focus on winning air rings against crane or scorpion, the best unicorn card actually makes you pay it with honor and a bad use of Banzai! can become a great mistake

Now unicorn is just there by the support it can give to superior military decks like lion or crab,hell, even crane and scorpion are greatly improved by unicorn support

amd it is sad, we have to see what support they can have now

planning to play unicorn because fuck me I guess, who should I splash? Should I try and shore up the abysmal political stuff with Crane?

I still weep when I see the near perfect design of oldL5R and compare it to the new "Pink Cherry" lame ass artstyle. Old cards really had so much character with all their cool traits and keywords.

Nu-L5R just doesn't do it for me. Seems way too generic and bland. Also not a fan of the new rules and mechanics.
It's great that the setting isn't dead but rebooting the DoT? Really? They could have just made a more interesting alternative Universe/Timeline.

Fuck I hate the new card design so much. Muh ultra pretentious "Mono No Aware", muh every card has to be pink. REEEE.

Lion is always a good option and crab too

>Lion is always a good option and crab too
so just double down on the military?

yeah, with Unicorn, always military

And it is still metadice garbage, so there is not much to talk about.

or get other clan splashes to be your defense. Dragon's Mirumoto's fury, pheonix's pacifism, etc.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, user.

Oh hey, I hadn't seen you post lately.

How to Scorpion honorable anons?

Huh? I must have missed the last L5R threads.
Doesn't look too good for the game when even Veeky Forums doesn't really care.

Also Pink cards were a horrible design choice.

Just act honorable when it doesn't conflict with orders from above. When it does be creative to minimize losses and still fulfill your duty.

Example, you are ordered to kill Akodo Bob. You could just sneak in and murder him in the night, sneak out, and then get super shitfaced at a geisha house to create an alibi, but that would cost a ton of honor. Instead you taunt him a few times and then get him so mad that he challenges (not too hard he is a Lion after all) you to a duel and you smoke him there. The target is dead, your honor is mostly intact, and if you do it right it is glorious and gets you some sexy time with that pretty Phoenix girl you've had your eye on. Your higher ups don't really care how it is done, just that it is done in a reasonable amount of time.

Gais, I need help on a 4e character for a game I was just invited to.

Opted for a Matsu Matsu Berserker, and I want to focus on being an absolute terror to behold on the battlefield and be able to at least hold my own in social situations and at dueling.

So far I'm thinking take Sage for all the free knowledge and try to pump Kenjitsu as high as I can, any more tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Duelling is Air & Void. Matsu are Water, Earth, and Agility.

So shorthand for don't bother?

No, but you have no particular affinity for it. Any character can do any kind of thing, because it's all based on skills and stats, but people with relevant techniques always do it just that little bit better.

I didn't want to specialize, but we're starting with the Topaz Tournament and that apparently has a duel for a finale and I'd like a shot at it. If it's not reasonable though I can put a point or two in Iaijitsu and call it a day.

Is there something akin to an optimal build for these guys? Never played it before.

It's just that with dipping into every ring and not overlapping anywhere, you're going to have to cut yourself short.

Better to (say) be the Investigation/Stealth Matsu with high Agility (Stealth/Melee) & Perception(Water Ring for movement & Perception for Investigation), then go rank 2 Lion Scout. (improves your Stealth and Agility-based Bugei skills)

Reflexes are never a bad thing to get, but the best you can (And probably should) do would be Iaijutsu 1 or 2, Reflexes 3. You could up Void, but that's expensive.

I was looking at the Scout since apparently Matsu 2 is pretty weak.

So far I have Reflexes and Agility to 3, Strengh is 4 for free.

I took
Calligraphy
Courtier
Etiquette
Investigation 2
Lore Heraldry and Bushido
Battle and Defense(free)
Iaijitsu 2
Kenjitsu 3

The more I look at the the more I'm certain that it is NOT good

>we're starting with the Topaz Tournament
It's a three day tournament where (IIRC) you won't be doing every contest that happens every day. Talk with your GM about which events happen on each of the three days, how many points you can get from each day, and focus on skills for events that will line up with your good attributes.

Here's where I'd start. This is assuming the suggested 10 point limit on disadvantages. I'd consider taking another 3 point disadvantage (like Haunted) and taking Luck. Early buys would be Earth traits and Void to 3. Also ask your GM if he'll let you swap your "Any Heavy Weapon or Polearm" from your starting gear for a No-Dachi. As a GM, I'd allow it as No-Dachi are more of a Lion thing than Heavy Weapons are. If he doesn't get one ASAP and then the emphasis in it after you have it in hand. Rolling a mighty 8k3+7 for damage is brutal.

As others have noted Dueling is not really a Matsu thing as you kinda have to go out of your way for it. But getting all the traits to duel to 3 doesn't hurt in the least since Air is by far the most powerful ring. You'll be passable against non-specialists. And since you are doing the Topaz Championship, you'll get early use out of the social boost as well. If you want to scrap dueling, move those traits to Earth and raise Air traits later. Sage is pretty pointless unless you got the Int to back it up, and you really have no need to raise your Int past 3 and it isn't a high priority.

Ask yourself if you can expect to out-duel a Kakita bushi (+1k1+1 to Attack & Focus rolls) with Air 3, Void 3, Iaijutsu 3.

Hey, it's all a numbers game. The Kakita will always have an edge, but it's not insurmountable, especially with exploding dice.

Not even vaguely, but there is a Kakita in the group so I may get to try my luck. And it would be luck.

We are using the 10 point limit, and he already okayed the no-dachi though I had to argue my case a bit. Wouldn't Fire be a more powerful combat Ring than Air? With the agility and all.

Sure ... but if you go at it like that, you might as well just throw xp where it makes you feel good, rather than to win the tournament.

The tournament has a wide variety of different events, but the iaijutsu tournament is worth the most by far. As long as you can get enough points, you pass the gempukku, and that's all that most can hope for.

You'll never beat them at their own game if they properly keep up, but being near them means that you have a chance. The standard deviation is wide enough that anyone within 1k1 of their roll still has a good chance of winning.

Athletics
Horsemanship
Hunting
Iaijutsu
Jujutsu
other Bugei skills
Etiquette
Courtier
Lore: Bushido, Heraldry, Law
Perform: Poetry, Storytelling
Games: Go

You should expect to see and need any of these (maybe others) in the championship, but you won't need all of them. Iaijutsu on day 3 is certain.

I was talking overall power not just combat.

Air governs Initiative, Archery, most of Dueling and nearly all Social Skills.
Agility is strong as it is all melee weapons, but the mental trait in the ring is not as useful as Awareness.

Personally, I like the Lioness Legion (Strongholds of the Empire) more than the Lion Scout for Matsu Berserkers. Since your Rank 1 and 4 techs key off your honor you don't want to be taking the hits for stealthy ambushes. The extra movement is always nice and syncs nice with your R1 for a total of 10 feet of extra free movement. That said the Scout is a very solid path.

If you are allowed out of Core, the Lion Elite Spearman (Naisho Province) school is pretty nifty too. It is one of a handful of schools that gets a Free Action Attack and the only one that gets a Free Action Ranged Attack. Take a Magari-Yari (3k2 spear) from the same book or a Bisento, and you aren't suffering too much for using spears/polearms.

Okay that makes sense, so smart money is to bump the other rings and just Agility?

I thought of the Legion too, but the extra die seemed more useful than the speed, even if I never sneaked around.

I don't know if we'll be going out of core stuff, it's the DM's first time running it, and besides I really dig the no-dachi anyway.

>If you are allowed out of Core
... The Ikoma Lion's Shadow. You start with Awareness 4 as Ikoma ILS, you get +1k0 bonus to attack rolls and contested rolls vs one opponent for the whole day per day (increases by rank), and most of your school skills are going to be useful.

>Since your Rank 1 and 4 techs key off your honor you don't want to be taking the hits for stealthy ambushes.
Nothing says you have to use it to start that fight. Stealth: Sneaking followed by a loud charge from well chosen terrain is perfectly honourable use of the skill, as is sneaking for any other reason that isn't following someone.

*also, I feel like you missed "all Agility-based Bugei Skills" on the Lion Scout.

All rings to 3 is pretty efficient insight and gives you that all important third kept die on rolls. Beyond 3 Matsu will want Earth for more HP (You'll be in Full Attack stance a lot so you'll get hit more often so you need to tank the hits), Water to 4 (Perception is a strong stat, extra move speed is nice, plus you got Strength to 4 already so it is efficient insight) and Agility. Keep skills at odd Ranks, that is where Mastery bonuses live, and pick up skills you find yourself rolling a lot.

All that should keep you busy on exp and by the point you finish all that you should kinda know what you need.

I didn't. A rolled die is about +2.5 or so to a roll, so not that good. Like I said it is a very solid path, I just like Lioness Legion better thematically for Matsu Berserkers.

God I hate the Lion's Shadow so much. They are as bad as "lolgunpowder" Daidoji Harriers.

Okay, and it seems to be the case that Rings are more efficient/effective than skill points in general aside from the mastery.

Earth doesn't seem altogether very useful early on though, meaning that it doesn't tie in to any skills. Would it be a good idea to capitalize on my bonus Strength and the point I already put into Agility to up Water and Fire? Or is that a trap?

Brash on a character with no Willpower seems like a death sentence.

I was thinking I'd go Cursed by the Realms(Toshigoku ) and Bad Fortune(Secret love), but I'd need a 3 pointer that wouldn't bee too in the way to make 10

There's a whole lot of events. I ran a courtier in a game of that and managed enough points to graduate, and was blessed with hilarious exploding dice during the archery segement and outshot everybody else in the tournament rolling like 30s and 50s off of 3 or 4 reflexes and 2 points in whichever justsu archery was.

>Bad Fortune(Secret love)
That's ok. Ruins your character's chances at marriage until they find out who it is, but that's good story stuff. Usually. Plus, it's a Spiritual disadvantage, which means the Bayushi Courtier doesn't bend you over every conversation.

>Cursed by the Realms(Toshigoku)
This will screw you over the moment you wound anyone and can't make the willpower TN. As a bushi going into a tournament that's not to the death, don't do it.

Haunted is good if you can avoid pissing off your ancestor. (Spiritual)

1-2 points in Social & Mental disadvantages is ok, if you want to play it safe. If you don't care, then go over that.

Yes, Traits in general are strong, but they are far more expensive. And without at least one rank in a skill you don't get exploding dice so getting Rank 1 can be a big deal.

Earth governs HP. Going from Earth 2 to 3 gives you 50% more HP. Earth stats tend be rolled less often, yes, but when you do roll them you really don't want to fail.

Also as an addendum to the +1k0 to Agility based Bugei skills. As a Matsu you will be in Full Attack most of the time and assuming a minimum of 3 Agility and 3 Skill you are 8k4 to hit, which is sufficient to hit a TN of 30 most of the time. Drop a void with that and you are hitting a TN 40 most of the time. If you've bought a fourth rank Agility by R2 it is even less of a factor.

With Brash's TN of 25 you aren't going to be making consistently, without Void use, until 4 Willpower anyways. You learn to cope and spend Void at the right time. I only put the 3s in Air stats because the guy asking for help wanted a duel capable character. I mentioned that if was scrapping dueling to move those traits to Earth instead.

If I wanted to be a cheese-meister I'd go for Cursed by the Realms (Chikushudo) -1k1 for Animal Handling, notice it doesn't include Horsemanship, is a joke for the points you gain.

Aww, I like Toshigoku, it sounds fun. Solid advice though.

Kind of a sleeper stat then, makes sense. I don't know, I'm not sure how useful dueling will be over all, and I know I won't be able to beat the Kakita anyway.