L5r which clan

Even the ambassadors of the Dragon Clan stood silently to the side of the court, offering none of their usual riddles that always seemed to lighten the mood of the proceedings.

Even Seppun Ishikawa , Captain of the Imperial Guard , paced through the court, tension obvious in every step. Into this mood, a Seppun samurai entered suddenly. The Seppun quickly told the Emperor and his court that the Crab was marching northward, away from the Kaiu Wall. Though his message was important, Ishikawa nevertheless hastened toward the man, ready to protect the Emperor from him, as the samurai kneeling in the doorway showed obvious signs of carrying the Shadowlands Taint.

He was bleeding green blood from a wound on his arm and his skin was seeping grey smoke. Ishikawa was stopped by Shiba Ujimitsu , who also stepped between the messenger and the Emperor. The Seppun explained that the Taint had come with the Crab.

He told that their armies were not merely of samurai, but of great machines, maho-tsukai , and oni. He told of the great claw that now allowed Hida Yakamo to lead the armies of the Crab once more. He told of the great oni that fought beside the Crab's second-highest general.

He told of the Hida guard surrounding Yakamo and the assembled armies of all the families of the Crab. At first, the assembled courtiers hoped that the army might be the work of a maddened renegade, but it quickly became apparent that the Crab intended war, and the Seppun made their objective clear as well: to seize Beiden Pass.

During the ensuing commotion, Seppun Baka quickly insisted that the messenger be killed. His message delivered, the Seppun requested that he be allowed seppuku while he could still manage the act. The Emperor agreed, but it was too late, for the man fell to the floor and died. Seppun Ishikawa quickly drew his sword and took the man's head, not allowing him to reanimate within the Emperor's court. The crane clan embody the political elite of Rokugan. The clan consists of silver-tongued courtiers and tea serving charmers.

However, cranes do possess claws and this clan has plenty of fearsome duellists available who can eliminate opposing characters and earn the honour. The crane clan also has a strong tie to creativity and some members devote their lives to developing a form of illusion magic to create beautiful works of art. The crane clan are looked at as snobs and elitists, with stern social rules and standards, they provide a stark juxtaposition to the rough and ready members of the crab clan.

Crane players will be primarily focused on starting political conflicts with opponents and honouring their characters whilst only really flexing their military muscles when it comes to duelling. Crane decks can provide a sense of security for their players, as several crane cards inhibit your opponent from playing event cards which can hit you with nasty surprises.

The crane clan are one of my least favourite clans in terms of their background, lore and story. However, they are a really fun faction to play. The idea of a silver-tongued politically aware faction is really enticing and their gameplay style reflects this.

I have yet to play a multiplayer variation of Legend of the Five Ring the Card Game but I imagine the crane clan would be my go-to in terms of playing multiple opponents against each other. The crane clan fall just short of my top three due to their so-so backstory and their lack of general military power. The lion clan are by far the most military-focused clan in the game. The lion clan are the most concerned with maintaining honour and not resorting to underhand tactics or manipulation to settle their disputes.

The lion clan is compromised of the matriarchal Matsu berserkers who are just as awesome as they sound , undefeated military strategists, priests focused on ancestor worship and a group of bards who are devoted to keeping military history alive. Effects will also be focused on honouring cards as much as possible to boost their military stats. Several cards in the deck will have the keyword pride, meaning the character will be honoured if victorious or dishonoured if they fail.

Where the lion clan really excels, however, is in raw destructive power. In a lot of ways, they do what the unicorn clan try to do but in a more effective manner. Cards such as Matsu Seventh Legion possess one of the strongest military rating in the core set , Master of the Spear forces opponents to remove a character from a conflict at the last minute.

The lion clan are one of the more simplistic factions in the game but not to their detriment. On top of all this, they are able to generate honour with an above-average level of efficiency. They might seem like one of the more boring clans but they are certainly effective.

Rising from the ashes, the phoenix clan embody elemental energy and utilise the five rings to create some bonkers combinations that will leave your opponents awestruck. I would argue that the phoenix clan have the steepest learning curve in the game and have some very text-heavy cards. This can be off-putting to new players and maybe they are not the best choice for your very first game of L5R. However, they do provide some of the most satisfying gameplay opportunities if you stick with them.

They believe in peace and serenity and are made up of scholars who seek wisdom and knowledge in all matters, a council of five elemental magic masters, their students and samurai guardians and finally a group of samurai monks who defend sacred shrines. In terms of gameplay, the phoenix clan focuses on gaining bonuses from the type of elemental ring declared in a conflict. Phoenix decks possess numerous cards that amplify or extend the abilities of the elemental rings.

Fearsome Mystic gains an increase to her military and political strength when participating in air ring conflicts, Isawa Masahiro discards enemy characters during fire conflicts and Adept of the Waves allows another character to sneak past a defender during water conflicts.

The phoenix clan couples these bonuses with other cards that allow for ridiculous combinations to take place. Shiba Tsukune allows players to gain extra ring effects during their turn and Fushicho allows your characters to rise like a phoenix out the discard pile and onto the battlefield. How to maximise these combinations is critical to a good phoenix strategy. This clan is the definition of difficult to learn but satisfying to master.

Although off-putting the phoenix clan rewards loyal players with some utterly earth-shaking potential. Despite sounding like the immediate choice fourteen-year-old boys the world over, the scorpion clan avoid falling into parody through their surprisingly subtly backstory.

They give the other clans a common enemy which allows the scorpion clan to focus on ferreting out the real traitors and would-be usurpers in the empire.

Although they act like the most disloyal and selfish clan, they are actually the complete opposite. The Yasuki specialise in using commerce as a means of gaining the favour of others. They are as much salesmen as courtiers and can use any number of sales tactics, including both pressure and false sincerity, to gain that which they desire from others.

No one in the Empire can take a simple resource and transform it into a hot commodity with the same style and deftness as the Yasuki. Hiruma Bushi School. Where the Hida bushi school teaches endurance and strength, their Hiruma cousins teach avoidance and targeting weak points in an enemy's defences with lightening fast strikes. The lessons taught by their sensei are essential to fulfilling their duties as warriors inside the Shadowlands. Those who do not heed their teachers well do not survive to purpetuate their mistakes.

Those who excel at their lessons become a scourge upon the Shadowlands, moving through that dark realm with speed and grace, leaving death in their wake. The Hiruma bushi school emphasises movement and survival, not just to endure a strike as the Hida do, but to live through an entire skirmish.

In one-on-one combat the Hiruma excels at evading his opponent, while in larger skirmishes his ability to avoid damake makes him adept in reaching troublesome foes and eliminating them while his allies tie up other rank-and-file opponents.

Honour: 4. Crane Clan Schools. Kakita Bushi School. The sacred art of Iaijutsu is practiced by all clans, but none have truly mastered it in the same manner as the sensei at the Kakita Dueling Academy. The school focuses unapologetically upon dueling. Other skills are part of the core teachings, but they are considered incidental and in many cases are offered only because some facet of their instructions relates in some way to iaijutsu.

While there are those in the Empire who have criticised the school for it's narrow focus, few can argue with the results; many battles have been won by the Crane because an enemy general was slain I na duel before the fighting began. Likewise the Crane stranglehold on the courts is easier to maintain when any challenge can be answered by a Kakita champion taking the courtiers place in the duel. The Kakita techniques place an obvious emphasis on iaijutsu but severel of them can be of use in both dueling and general skirmish.

The Kakita are generally faster than most opponents, reflected in their Initiative bonus, and are able to utilise the Centre Stance for greater benefits than normal, both in dueling and outside. Doji Courtier School. The reputation of the Crane clan has for being the unquestioned masters of any court activity in which they are involved is well-deserved, and almost exclusively the result of the ancient secrets of the Doji courtier school.

The schools primary focus is on the creation of vast networks of allies upon whom the Crane can call to accomplish virtually anything, preferably indebting those involved to the Crane in the process. The curriculum in the Doji school is quite broad and encompasses a myriad of topics, more than could be mastered by any single samurai, no matter how talented.

Fortunately, the sensei ensure that there are an ample number of courtiers trained in every area so no matter what the need, a Doji stands ready to fulfill it. The Doji courtier school is built upon the notion of trading favours. That is not the entirity of their abilities, however; what makes them even more daunting opponents is their ability to perceive what and individual needs, and then offer it to them in such a manner that refusal is difficult if not impossible.

Honour: 6. Daidoji Iron Warriors. The skills of the Doji amd Kakita have raise the Crane into their position as masters of the court, but when words alone cannot attain victory; it is the strength and the courage of the Daidoji Iron Warriors that carry the day.

The Daidoji have always considered themselves the silent steel of the Crane, and that perception is not inaccurate. The Daidoji Iron Warriors are both the rank and file and the heavy infantry of the Crane armies, compromising a sizeable portion of the Clan's first army and the majority of the second.

They also serve as yojimbo, and this duty is the one most often ascribed to the Daidoji. Even if it is but one of their many roles. The Daidoji are a versatile group, with techniques that emphasis both enduring the damage of one's opponants and protecting their charge. This fighting style is not exclusively protective, however, and it allows an Iron Warrior to fight defensively in a skirmish to great effect.

Dragon Clan Schools. Mirumoto Bushi School. Famous throughout the Empire for it's unique teachongs, the Mirumoto Bushi school is the lone fighting style that utilises the Niten technique, wherein a Samurai wields the katana and wakizashi simultaneously.

This is a controversial style because it flies in the face of the traditional style used by the other clans for centuries, although Niten was actually developed at the same time as the one-sword style. The Mirumoto Bush School focuses on the mechanical benefits of wielding two weapons simultaneously, both in forgiving the penalties associated with doing so and improving the benefits. It also increases the Samurais Armour TN and grants him additional attacks at an increases rate due to the availability of his weapons.

Kitsuki Investigator School. Even among the Dragon, the methods and beliefs imparted at the Kitsuki School are unusual. Alone in the Empire, the Kitsuki believe in the importance of evidence, something that most others cannot comprehend. The sensei of the unusual School place tremendous emphasis on developing the family's trademark powers of observation, honing them to a razor point, so much so that those trained in its Techniques possess a nearly infallible memory, perfect recall, and an almost inhuman attention to detail.

Very little escapes the eye of a trained Kitsuki investigator. Although their primary role is as the court representitives of the Dragon, the Kitsuki Investigators obviously make excellent magistrates, and their strengths lie in gathering information both from the environment and from other people. Honour: 5. Lion Clan Schools. Akodo Bushi School.

Over the centuries, the primary bushi Schools of many clans have developed specialties that have narrowed their focus. The Akodo consider such things a mistake, and have carefully avoided it. The Akodo school focuses on precision in the art of Kenjutsu, the basic swordsmanship style of the empire. The Akodo believe that if you strike your target exactly as you intend every time, there is no need for anything more complicated as part of your studies.

Some regard this as simplistic, bot no one argues with Akodo capabilities in battle. The study of battle itself is also a strong component of every Akodo's training, and there are virtually no Akodo-trained Samurai who do not possess a rudimentary knowledge of tactics and strategy. The Akodo techniques focus on precision and success, transforming marginal successes in to greater ones and, at higher levels, changing failure to succcess. To some extent the School also negates bonuses an opponent might possess, but generally speaking the techniques exist only to ensure success on the part of Akodo-trained Samurai.

Matsu Berserker School. The great majority of the vast legions of Matsu samurai study at the families home school, if for no other reason than that most Matsu believe other fighting styles are too conservative and reserved, A true Matsu has no fear of death, and as such the techniques imparted by their sensei embrace absolute, unwavering commitment to battle. Although this leaves the Matsy vulnerable to an opponent's attacks, the philosophy behind the techniques is that an opponent who has been defeted has no opportunity to retaliate.

It is for this reason that the legions of the Matsu family are so feared on the battlefield: how can one defeat an enemy who does not care if she lives or dies, so long as you are defeated first? The Matsu techniques focus heavily upon the Full Attack stance, which makes them heavy-hitting opponents who have to position themselves carefully in order to prevent an opponent from exploiting their lower armour TN.

As a secondary focus, the Matsu can generate Fear effects that can further destabalise opponents and make them easier targets for himself and allies. Ikoma Bard School. If one examines the greatest storytellers of every generation across the history of Rokugan, the pattern that emerges will indicate clearly that the Ikoma dominate this aspect of the Empires social circles. Unlike most courtiers who focus on manipulation and shades of deception, the Ikoma bards or omoidasu strive to live by example, citing historical precidents and mythical tales of heroes in order to demonstrate the desired outcome of whatever discussion they are involved in.

While this might seem a curious tactic, there are many courtiers in other Clans who have difficulty conducting themselves against the Ikoma when the Ikoma can demonstratively prove that the individuals ancestors might well have disproved a course of action. In a society so steeped in history and tradition, argument via parable is a surprisingly effective technique.

The Ikoma techniques allow a courtier to inspire others as well as to resist manipulation by his opponents. Further-more, by comparing others to historical figures, the Ikoma can gain Glory not only for himself but for others far easier than most.

Mantis Clan Schools. None Playable. Phoenix Clan Schools. Shiba Bushi School. The Shiba Bushi are well known as a relatively peaceful group, at least as bushi are concerned. Their training emphasises a number of non-martial skills in addition the the traditional weapons training, which has lead to a reputation as warrior-scholars in some circles.

A Shiba bushi considers all options before commiting to combat, searching for any possible alternative other than the loss of life. If those a Shiba protects are threatened, however, or if combat is an inevitability, he attacks swiftly and without reservation, committing himself fully to the act until lit is done. Those who mistake the desire oh a Shiba bushi to preserve life for an inability to take it are woefully unprepared to face them on a battlefield.

The Shiba techniques optimise the use of Void Points and specialise in protection of others, allowing Shiba bushi to more than adequately fill their common role as yojimbo. They also possess an affinity for the use of polearms, and can excel at dueling if properly trained.

Asako Loremaster School. The Asako are monastic and scholarly by nature, and nowhere is this more evident than in the courtier tradition they maintain on behalf of the Phoenix Clan.

Their training consists of extensive studies in a large number of subjects, some of which may be chosen by the students themselves. A broad knowledge base gives the Asako a frame of reference from which to examine any new data or situation, and allows them great insight in to the social situations of court.

The Loremasters specialise in scholarly pursuits, and use those as a means of succeeding in social situations. Asako courtiers use Lore Skills to augment their Social Skills, gaining influence and success in court through their learned natures. Scorpion Clan Schools. Bayushi Bushi School. The greatest villains in Rokugans most successful plays are always Scoprions, because it is so easy for most Samnurai to believe.

It is the actions of students from the Bayushi Bushi School that have brought this stereotype to life and reinforced it over and over again, Every student in the Bayushi dojo is trained to be the perfect weapon of discord, capable of turning the Clans against one another with minimal effort.

Weapons training is only one aspect of their education, which often includes social manipulation, stealth, and even the use of poisons when the student is deemed suitable for such things. The Bayushi techniques might be best described as dirty tricks. They focus on granting the character an advantage, such as an increase in initiative, or ruthlessly exploiting any other advantage that might already exist. In particular the ability to cripple an opponent with Conditions can turn the tide of a battle against a vastly superior opponent, if one has but a little luck.

Bayushi Courtier School. The reputation of the Scorpion in court is nearly equal to that of the Crane, and certainly more fearsome.