Looks like Lion are going to swarm?

Good catch. I missed the point of the question, it seems...

And it's done. Everybody please mercilessly correct any mistakes I made summarize the answers.

Card preview going on for Lion but I can't see the image in the comment box...

Lion is next. Arasou, Tsuko, and Toturi show up next week in the fiction.

Question: Do traits have rules? Answer: No, none at all by themselves. But other cards key off traits.

Question: Can skills become a negative value? Answer: They are considered zero when you need to reference them, but the negative modifier remains when figuring out if bonuses later cancel it out or not (I think I got that right?)

Questions: Can clan-specific conflict cards w/o influence pips be splashed? Answer: They cannot.

Question: Ties in duels Answer: No winner. No loss penalties, no win bonuses.

Question: Actions without presence in conflicts Answer: Yes, presence isn't required to use actions. Specifically, shugenja cards typically are used this way.

Question: Running out of cards in a deck Answer: You lose 5 honor when you run out of cards in a deck. Shuffle discard, then refill your deck.

Question: When can we take actions? Answer: Varies. (Non-answer?)

Questions: Conflict declaration sequencing Answer: A given example: 1st player declares a military conflict, 2nd passes, 1st player then declares a political conflict, 2nd Player can then declare one conflict (either military or political), but then no other because the 2nd player has already passed once. When you pass, you give up the opportunity to declare one of your conflicts.

Questions: If Doji gift giver bows only defender, does the attacker claim the ring? (This question is relevant because it creates an attacking army with zero military skill versus a bowed out defending army.) Answer: A zero military skill CANNOT win a conflict; you need at least one to win. No one wins.

Question: What are favorite clans to splash into Crane (for FFG design staff)? Answer: Because of politics focus, Lion or Unicorn to give support. Lion brings protection. Dragon is popular, too, due to attachments (Dragon are attachment heavy, and have dueling focus, too.) Scorpion is good for more political stuff.

Question: Any change for male gay character in the cast? Answer: They will not ignore taboo sorts of romances in the story. This goes into their themes of ninjo (personal feelings) vs giri (duty.)

Question: Is Hotaru's flavor text about a game of go with Kachiko? Answer: Yes, and Katrina is impressed with us for picking that up. Kachiko and Hotaru played go with each other at winter court years ago. Their romantic relationship is complicated by their political plays against each other.

Question: Is Kakita Asami a reference to a character from the 1st ed of RPG? How were names for uniques selected? Answer: Yes, Asami is taken from the NPC from the 1st ed Topaz Championship. New characters and new stories will be added to the game, and old characters used, too. Kaezin is Asami's yojimbo.

Question: When do we get a shortened version of the FFG L5R history? Answer: In the core set there are clan introductions including history, role in setting, and families in the clans. So... we will learn in the core set?

Question: Any guiding principles for selecting Crane art? Answer: There is a style guide for each of the clans, including Crane. Style guides include cultural details as well as color schemes. There is an "emotion" field given to artists when art is requested. Art pieces are supposed to give emotional responses.

Question: How are Crane themes shown in mechanics? Answer: Crane are strong in politics. Scorpion is the other strong politics clan. Crane are good at honoring personalities and dueling. A very control-oriented play style. Crane is pretty straight-forward and intuitive to play. Design focused on the Crane "playing" honorably. Ex: they show cards before playing them. They play "face up." Daidoji Harriers mentioned.

Confirmed that the kami "fell to earth" and that Doji was among their number. Her husband was Kakita, a master swordsman. Is that true in the AEG lore, too? Duels to first blood are used to settle disputes among samurai in FFG Rokugan. No change there.

Yup, same deal.

Started with Katrina talking about lore and why Hotaru did what she did (i.e. sneak into Otosan Uchi), but the stream cut out for me for a bit so I couldn't hear most of it.

Since the official L5R Live thread appears to be for submitting questions, I thought we should make a different topic to actually discuss the contents thereof. About 10 minutes until going live...