He's also simply wrong about both Duels and Intrigues. They both work just fine.
However, the book does need more examples for stuff, although the latest errata did help.
Range bands also work. "Ignoring" in this case means "don't track them the way you would track a grid". (There is a bit of weirdness with moving to range 6, if you can make that happen, however.)

Would this Merchant's Guide actually talk about mercantilism this time, or is the ruse part of the charm?

Ha! Makes me wonder if all Ishiken mysteriously find distant ancestry back to the Phoenix somehow...

I'd handle traps like an other challenge, with an initiative roll to see who can act/change their current stance before the trap goes off, with a fitness check DC (to avoid damage) dependent on their stance. Crab use plenty of traps along the underground caves along the wall, and any abandoned fortress or temple (with spiritual guardians) works too. Sewers or underground criminal hideouts (Toshi Ranbo or Otesan Uchi for example) would be another option. Personally, I would handle it as zones rather than a true room by room crawl, but that's just me.

I'd handle traps like an other challenge, with an initiative roll to see who can act/change their current stance before the trap goes off, with a fitness check DC (to avoid damage) dependent on their stance. Crab use plenty of traps along the underground caves along the wall, and any abandoned fortress or temple (with spiritual guardians) works too. Sewers or underground criminal hideouts (Toshi Ranbo or Otesan Uchi for example) would be another option. Personally, I would handle it as zones rather than a true room by room crawl, but that's just me.

I'd handle traps like an other challenge, with an initiative roll to see who can act/change their current stance before the trap goes off, with a fitness check DC (to avoid damage) dependent on their stance. Crab use plenty of traps along the underground caves along the wall, and any abandoned fortress or temple (with spiritual guardians) works too. Sewers or underground criminal hideouts (Toshi Ranbo or Otesan Uchi for example) would be another option. Personally, I would handle it as zones rather than a true room by room crawl, but that's just me.

I think Modeiphus did something like that as well for their Star Trek products.  At least for a time; if you got a hard copy and the store registered it, then you could get a digital copy free.

Toku was raised to minor clan Daimyo by Toturi in 1129 AEG canon.  That being said, FFG could decide to make them an official minor clan by moving up Toku's elevation to Monkey clan Daimyo much sooner; perhaps one of Doji Satsume's last recommendations to the Emperor before he died was to create a new minor clan.

Sparrow Please....

I would hope no Second Day of Thunder at all...

If two weapons are at range 1 but on opposite sides of the character, doesn't that make them range two relative to each other and require a movement and two actions to obtain both?
I'm just kidding, a little joke at the expense of those who can't handle range bands as written

I would almost certainly play it as a duel rather than a two-person skirmish because it's about the 'feel' of the fight - the tension is the more important element than repeatedly swinging attacks at one another.
I don't find range bands too bad in skirmishes, to be honest. We played the game in a pretty loose narrative fashion even before game night became an online affair, so using grids and overly precise range would have felt wierd.
Removing ranges from duels was (obviously) a deliberate choice. I get the argument about 'getting past the weapon', but the problem is a mechanical one ruining a narrative one; a duel has a very strict time limit before the usually-duel-ending Finishing blow. Stuff like Iron Forest Style which is appropriate and sensible in a skirmish basically makes a duel "I have a polearm, I win" because you can't take the time to play clever tricks to counter it, there aren't multiple opponents so the limitation becomes irrelevant, and your opponent can't afford to spend multiple turns trying to pass a TN4 check.
If you do this, then the goal becomes to have your once-per-duel finishing blow opportunity come up whilst your opponent is out of range and not allowed to attack you, which (to me) also feels like playing the system.
I think this is why I'm often a fan of one-roll duels. By all means add a TN increase to the Ise Zumi's check to account for your greater reach, but then the Ise Zumi probably has dirty tricks of their own that you'll have to contend with.

Call it what you want but the video looks awfully like a skirmish. I see no reason why you couldn't throw in various techniques from a duel in a skirmish (some Crane always fight using quick draw, even during mass battle). Regardless, I'm glad your table worked out when range bands work and when they don't.
On second thought, maybe these street thugs are dueling:
 

A duel (as the conflict type) is for anything that would be called a duel in-universe. Sadane (possibly), a Warrior's Duel, a Clash on the battlefield, a formal iaijutsu duel, sumai etc. It involves a challenge, terms, often judges, and some sort of tense staredown.
It is not just anything. A single cornered thug versus a magistrate is not a duel. There's no staredown, no two warriors on at least roughly equal footing, no-one sets any terms or conditions nothing.

Again, there's nothing stopping you from misusing the rules, but don't complain if the game doesn't work well for you in that case.

I highly doubt a street thug would require the approval of their daimyo to initiate the formal resolution of grievances through ritualized martial conflict. Sure, there could be an unsanctioned duel between samurai who are bitter rivals, but the formal procession still exists to maintain a semblance of honor. Range bands aren't required in a duel with melee weapons because leaving is tantamount to forfeiture and we can safely assume opponents are tethered together.

I highly doubt a street thug would require the approval of their daimyo to initiate the formal resolution of grievances through ritualized martial conflict. Sure, there could be an unsanctioned duel between samurai who are bitter rivals, but the formal procession still exists to maintain a semblance of honor. Range bands aren't required in a duel with melee weapons because leaving is tantamount to forfeiture and we can safely assume opponents are tethered together.

No, but even a warrior's duel or a clash on a battlefield is not the same as what you'd described. The horse archer is not engaging in a duel in that situation, he's just pelting a distant target that can't quite catch up. There's no reason to put him on a strife clock at all, it doesn't match the fiction in the least.
Two archers, on the other hand, you could arguably put into a ranged duel.

There's a huge difference between sensible approximation and destined to fail video game simulator. As a rule of thumb, if PCs are asking what they can and cannot do because of target distance, that's an appropriate use of range bands (and it does work). If it would take longer to explain distances between targets on the figurative screen (or actual whiteboard) than complete a player's turn that round, maybe it's time to make life simpler and more fun for everyone involved. Now I'm curious if anyone has ever successfully played using strict range band rules with more than two PCs at the table.

No, not "until you need them". They work just fine when you do.
It's just a pain to try and keep all range bands between everything on the field up to date at once.
So don't. Only actually "calculate" the bands when someone tries to do something. 

Names are meaningful, it's Covid-19. Otherwise, I like the idea of a living rpg campaign for L5R. It certainly works well for Star Trek Adventures and building a strong community and creative content.

Names are meaningful, it's Covid-19. Otherwise, I like the idea of a living rpg campaign for L5R. It certainly works well for Star Trek Adventures and building a strong community and creative content.

I wasn't surprised when the Crane book, I mean Courts of Stone, didn't have the Sparrow Clan. Sure, the Sparrow are literally the most down to earth clan in the empire, but they originate from a Crane lineage and train remarkably long winded storytellers fitting courtly roles. Maybe they should have been in Path of Waves for their lower position among clans? Here's hoping they are in the Dragon Clan book, for philosophical differences with the rest of Rokugan Proper.

You can purchase a digital version at
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/browser/filter/id/10109

You can purchase a digital version at
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/browser/filter/id/10109

You can purchase a digital version at
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/browser/filter/id/10109