Its better for the storyline actually (for me). I remember the original way of clan rpg supplements and their stories and footnotes. The same story being told from different point of view and mostly blatantly contradicting one another makes you as a reader decide or think if any of em are true. thats why you can never trust an Ikoma.

Also, as much as I love the Lion getting tainty and stuff..can we stop calling it "Reanimator"..the Kitsu is communing with their ancestors, its not Shahai, right? Right? next thing we know, everyone will be calling this "NuL5r".. ..oh wait...

By going through his lineage for days and days until the enemy commander gets fed up with the Lion's pompous speech.

Lies! Shoju let him win. for the good of the Empire, of course.

Mighty Gracious of you to give us Starting Honor of 8

Can't wait for my opponent to flip three Obstinate Recruit on the first turn. good and scary previews, dissapointed with Toturi's design though..seems uncreative.

There's no question that Rokugan is technologically behind ( Battle of White Stag ) but that is upset/ balanced by the existence of magic of the setting. There's no need to improve for example harvesting when Inari can just on a whim bless or curse the harvest season. And with the Kami clearly tied up with land ( Shugenja magic behaves differently/unpredictably on foreign land ), its another good reason to isolate Rokugan and further feed it xenophobia. and just because, I agree with Rokugan xenophobia as a setting does not mean I justify it IRL..its like if i like post-apoc zombie setting, I'm also pro-zombie for the future of mankind. believe me when i said, I'm waiting for the time Rokugan get his comeuppance in the story because of its arrogance and isolation. The Destroyer War could have been interesting if they (AEG) had the balls to make Rokugan lose.

Yep, Taeruko was design to be one of Thai descent..

And the P*nis Clan rises once again from the ashes.

Agreed that this isnt auto-include but as I think that Crane/Phoenix Honor and Scorpion Dishonor will get great mileage out of this. I'm on the opposite that this is more Dark Ritual than Llanowar. If you pull this off, its at least equivalent to 4 fate (1 for current turn/ 3 for the next) and a more stable board control for the next turn. And I don't see why this does not generate tempo for your next turn. add to this, the possibility of negating Void and preventing Water and the card increases its value even further and from experience its usually one misplay/miscalculations that let me squeak out a win when i play control. Maybe so, but a dupe is very telegraph than this one is and can be accounted for easily by your opponent this is a conditional One Koku for the LCG Sure opponent can underbid or bid same as me,but for a control player that means my opponent isnt maximizing his potential to draw cards and it's less problem for me to account for.

Wouldn't honor runners bid low though for the honor they will receive if their opponents outbid them? And with duelling, using the same mechanic..I'm pretty sure Crane will find a way to fit it in just for the extra turn of the Storyteller or Asami, best case, Hotaru.

http://www.kazenoshiro.com/2007/04/20/the-war-of-the-rich-frog-part-one/

I suspect that Hida Kisada loves seeing some Good Omens before stomping my face in.. multiple of these in a single low-bid turn is very economical.

Dishonorable: Shinjo Shono on his way to bolster Moto Chagatai's troop in the City of the Twin Frogs against the Lion was stopped along the way by the Imperial Legion to de-escalate the situation. The Legion's leader ( Dragon Duelist, i think) goad and insulted Shono to a duel so they can't reinforce the main Unicorn Army in time. Shono knowing he will lose to the duel, accepted it regardless. When the Dragon steps in to for the duel, Shono shot an arrow through him. Deceptive: Akodo Dairuko makes Matsu Rika don her Ancestral Armor during the hunt for the Yodotai army. The Yodotai Commander, thinking he has cornered the Lion Champion and would deal a big blow to the Rokugani forces if he kills Dairuko bites to the bait, severing him from his legions and gets face to face with Matsu Rika who has trained all his life to combat the Yodotai commander. Tactical: the Scorpion never ever risk destroying Ryoko Owari by defending it whenever some clan (Unicorn/Lion) tried to occupy it for themselves. It was costly to rebuild and defending it with what little army the Scorpion has is futile. The Scorpion would just hand it over and retreat..then after a few months or so, the occupier would hand the city back to the Scorpion as the bureaucracy and politics of the City of Lies is just to complex and convoluted that only the Scorpion can manage to make it work. Illegal: Bayushi Paneki poisoning the Spirit Army the day before the joined forces of Unicorn, Scorpion and Imperial legion liberates the siege on Shiro Iuchi

I would suggest to start fresh with the 2 fiction from ffg. From there if anyone (main or side character) piqued your interest, go to the wikia to get to know him/her better and have an inkling of what fiction they pops in from the old lore, read it and repeat if you come across a new character of interest.

I'm pretty sure the Emperor would not allow this. Only Toshi Ranbo is in contention and raiding into the Crane Lands would be informal and illegitimate declaration of war. Remember that Toturi weigh the course of actions possible against the Emperor's favor. The Emperor might encourage skirmishes to keep the clan in line but all-out-war was not in the Imperial's best interest. Toshi Ranbo could be taken but if the Emperor ordered it to be given back to the Crane because political propaganda, the Lion would lose face both in the court and battefield as opposed to letting the Crane surrender the City willingly which the Emperor or the Crane politicians will be hard-pressed to spun around.

well, whats good for the Ikoma is good for the Bayushi, i guess

Seconded, I recall that there was a concerted effort to box up the Spider holding (yeah, a lot of hate for them in-story) in the colonies by the Crab and Lion ( Scorpion would loved to help but sadly, it was a weak season for us ) But of the second half of the season, I think trading colonies or attacking it was allowed so once again Spider goes scathe free. and oh, that whole killing personalities that most often was a clone, was brilliant on AEG's part.

The Scorpion community did acknowledge the possibility of it happening but the long-standing alliance and blind desire to destroy the Spider was the deciding factor to lose the race.

Yep, but back then all effort for 2 years only to be denied by a technicality leaves a sour taste. And you have to agree that "exposure" did nothing to hinder anything for the Spider Clan. in hindsight, the Scorpion might have been better off taking the throne and banish the Dragon for the story.

All other clan lost except the Dragon. But some specific consequences was suppose to happen depending on which Clan won. I don't remember which is which if the Dragon won, i think it was the dissolvement of the Spider but instead they we're only exposed and legitimized.. I do recall that if the Scorpion wins, the second place winner will be dissolve and by the last leg of the race, the Scorpion and Dragon was jockeying for 1st/2nd place so the Scorpion community decided to intentionally aim for 2nd place so that we don't have to dissolve the Dragon ( long-term ally but the race actually severed it ) if we let Dragon win, and the Dragon will be Emperor and they in turn will destroy the Spider ( Scorpion hated them back then ). the Scorpion community was feeling good about ourselves back them at it was good move thematically for us in-character, we let someone win because we felt we we're better as kingmakers than kings and we could see the greatest threat for the empire at the time destroy. Sadly it didn't happen.. also, this is be no means a knack on the Dragon's effort that time. English isnt my native language and "let them win" is best i could think of atm

Also, I hope the author reads this. It might seem I'm nitpicking about the disconnect of the characters in this fiction, I think you did a good job for the introduction of the Lion..it might not sound satisfactory among the old guards but I appreciate the nod to us with namedrops even though newcomers might be confused and overwhelmed with the number of named personality here. You did a good job of fleshing out Hotaru from the last fic too. Domo, appreciated it and more power to you.

The Race for the Throne was significant in terms of magnitude and effort put forward by all the clans' playerbase and community globally. The result was ok at most but the journey to get there was full of come-uppance, wheeling and dealing, bounties, tension and uneasy alliances by everyone. if only AEG didn't back out of the consequences for the clan losing out.

So all Shoju needs to do is show-up?

Hmm, I think in this story, Toturi is still older than Arasou and the line where Arasou is stronger/powerful is the reason why the Lion chose Arasou over Toturi needs more extrapolation or a deeper insight in the Arasou-Tsuko dynamic that make it easier for Arasou to dismiss a sound advice from Toturi. Great catch on Tsuko repression and self-guilt..it would have been neater for the whole story to wrap up in Tsuko's POV. Her guilt and false projection onto Toturi would have greatly improved her depiction from the beginning of the story instead of coming off as (sorry to say, first thing that comes to my mind) mindless.