Hi, long time lurker, but decided to actively start participating.
First of all, if you are pretty much rewriting entire sections of a system like the way you are doing. It's best to rewrite the entire system or use a different one.
My take would be:
on page 258 in the bullet point for Iaijutsu Duel (to first strike or first blood) I would consider the following:
Iaijutsu duels are highly ritualized: combatants wear ceremonial clothes, only the katana and the wakizashi are permitted, and each warrior must begin with their blades sheathed, drawing them no earlier than their first turn. They must attack on the same turn they draw and they can only attack once.
When fought to the first strike, the duel objective is to inflict a critical strike on the opponent. When fought to the first blood, the duel objective is to inflict the bleeding condition on the foe. If you strike first and doesn't hit a critical strike, you lose by default. For the Iaijutsu Cut: Crossing Blade, I would add this additional opportunity option:
Add a Two Opportunities option for Iaijutsu Cut: Crossing Blade with "If you succeed, inflict a critical strike on your target with severity equal to your weapon’s deadliness." So you can strike someone that is not turtling on Earth Stance. This has a bunch of effects.
Predict becomes an actual choice, specially if you know the opponent doesn't have any Iaijutsu kata, because they must telegraph their attacks by choosing Water stance. Center becomes an actual choice as well, as you try to get as many pre-determined successes and exp. successes as possible. If it's a duel to first blood, and because you are using razor edge weapons, you just need to cause a flesh wound and risk of dismemberment due to duels can drop significantly. It makes Iaijutsu Cut: Rising Blade relevant as well, because once the target is Compromised, it can't defend against the kata, so you can easily hit a critical hit with TN 1 (The vigilance of a Compromised target and the TN of the kata as per errata) The con that I can foresee:
The finishing blow is actually optional, but if you are a character fighting in an Iaijutsu Duel without any Iaijutsu kata (and why would you do that???) against an opponent turtling in Earth Stance, your only actual chance of hitting a Critical Strike would be with a Finishing Blow (which uses double the deadliness) so you might end up killing or dismembering the opponent. You might consider this a feature of the system, as it shows a clumsy duelist not actually having the finesse to strike some one in a "controlled manner", though.

If they launched a 5th edition revised core, I would be a happy man.

Called it.

So I am preparing to run the three starter modules for my 3-man RP group for 5e L5R from 1st February onwards. However I was struggling to get the background feel for my players, so I sought out some guidance on the free fiction for the rework of the timeline. I downloaded each and every fiction, all 85 of them, and placed them into a single google folder, cateloged them using another website (source in the link below) and was going to share them.
Alas a friend of my, Snoop Hogg, did me a solid and created the ultimate; fictions 1 - 85 in a single PDF. It is the last PDF in the folder, but you can find the link in the cateloging document. Sharing it here because it's too much to go through the L5R website and download them individually, especially if you are returning and don't know the timeline.
I will do my best to keep it up to date, but if I am missing something, let me know.
Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tQjPPcjsMR0Cip4dOTIhsm8G_VOSEIBP?usp=sharing
Note: Information was correct at time of compilation and uploading (23/01/20).
 

Fundamentally, it's based on Status (which, in the role playing game, is a numeric value. In the setting, it's obviously just one's station). So, the hierarchy would generally go:
-Emperor
-Emerald Champion
-Chancellor (who has authority in matters related to operating the Imperial Court) and Imperial Advisor
-The Great Clans and Imperial Families
-The Minor Clans
Now, one thing I hasten to add is that this gives the impression that the Great Clans are "subordinate" to, say, the Emerald Champion or the Advisor. This is where the nice, linear progression downward gets complicated. Yes, the Emerald Champion is of higher status than a Great Clan Champion. And, yes, in matters that were of Imperial interest, such as an invasion of the Empire from outside, for example, the EC would have a standing of "first among equals" with the Great Clan Champions. But otherwise, no, the Emerald Champion (or Advisor, or Chancellor) do not actually have authority over the Great Clan Champions. Likewise, the subordination of a Minor Clan Champion to a Great Clan Champion is...complicated. They should be subordinate...but generally aren't. Particularly in their specific duty (for example, hunting spirits, for the Falcon Clan), they're much closer to equals to Great Clan Champions.

This is the general approach to it that I use in terms of portraying characters, anyway.

Funny you should mention it.  Meishodo, as far as anyone knows, is really the only thing that the Unicorn hide (at least in the long term), which is suspicious in itself.
  The situation is largely the Scorpion's doing (who would have guessed), but there are many other factors as well.  The short story is that, when they returned,  the empire was rightfully suspicious and afraid of the Unicorn right from the start.  The Scorpion immediately tried to manipulate matters against the Unicorn and were meeting with great success,  but they began to notice a problem.  The Unicorn themselves were spreading information before the Scorpion could spread it.  In fact, the Scorpion began to admire the Unicorn for their honesty and forthrightness, but they saw another problem because, the more the Unicorn tried to share, the more the other clans hated the Unicorn and accused them of being "Barbaric" and even "Blasphemous".  So the clans not only refused to listen to the Unicorn, but they refused to listen to anything having to do with the Unicorn. The scorpion determined that, for the good of Rokugan, the Unicorn need to keep secrets, so the "spymasters" of Rokugan actually told the Unicorn to stop sharing and they really don't report much on the Unicorn or their secrets. I think The plan is to make the empire want the information that Unicorn have, so that they respect the value of that information.
  Meishodo may be the perfect example of that plan in effect.  The Unicorn would have shared it early on, but nobody was willing to listen then, so the Unicorn make it "their most prized secret" (at the advice of the scorpion) and now everyone's saying "we must know".  Personally, while I understand the plan, it seems like it probably came from a Yogo.  It helped cool things down and get some acceptance for the Unicorn, but I wonder how much suffering has been caused because of Meishodo becoming the "most prized secret"
 
  For the record, I don't believe Meishodo is the source of the current spiritual troubles in Rokugan.  (this would essentially make all Meishodo users "the badguy" when it's presented as the core Unicorn shugenja school.  In this game, that fact tells me that Meishodo is a tool, like Ninjutsu, not necessarily good or evil in itself.) I think it's more likely a foreign cult/demon/god that came back with the Unicorn and is specifically mucking things up. (this would be a perfectly Kolat thing to do).  As per the Scorpion-Unicorn plan, this creates an excuse for people to demand to know about Unicorn magic, which gives the Unicorn the opportunity to share and be heard.
 

Thank you for both answers... so sad to read the totally forgotten of this game by the FFG.
 
Then, houserules, tainted also are affected by Jade Strike.
 
THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Yeah, I know it exists, I guess I meant to say, if somehow the license for ASoIaF RPG is up for grabs and FFG decides to try to get it. After all, they already have the license for a a card game.
Oh, I know it's just a game. It's just that you kind of have high hopes for something you are passionate about and then you get disappointed with the final product.
They sure had some great ideas, like decoupling Rings from Skills and the schools now have curricula for advancement, and Strife, but then I take a look at the Conflict chapter and I can't help but wonder what the **** was going on.
And kind of the same thing with the card game. The old game would take 1 hour at most, now it can take easily 90 minutes and then you can't play against multiple people either...

So, no announcement yet, if we are ever going to have one?
I mean, I don't know how their business model is how their profit margins are. And for L5R, which is MOST DEFINITELY a niche product even if with a loyal fan base, their new edition definitely could have been better polished instead of spending money with extremely beautiful and colorful books that made possibly half the fan base stick with the 4th edition and the other half arguing about if the 5th edition could have improvements or it is fine as it is?

Always takes them ages to show up on DTRPG and there's no strict timeline they adhere to, as far as I know.

Lady Doji's Decree is one of the most poorly thought techniques of this game.
While I was reading the game for the first time and trying to come up with a duelist build. (There isn't one, really) I thought this would be it, but it is extremely cheesy and I'm vegan, so... 😂

Seeing how many tenets of Bushido you can violate in a single act is not to be considered "an interesting challenge".

Let's be more specific: Rokugan as a setting basically ignores gender.
It's still massively racist, has an entrenched class system seventeenth century Hindu India would envy, and advocates suicide as a logical method for dealing with shame.
I feel the label "woke" is rather pushing it.
As well as being gramatically incorrect.

L5R is woke.
This is by design, and it is also very in line with the current TTRPG fanbase.
I think it is a good decision.
L5R try to satisfy everybody; narrative players, woke players, crunchy players, swrpg players, old school l5r players, tactical players etc etc.

Obviously, I think it was detrimental to the game to try to please every crowds. Tactical/Mechanical players end up with a half broken system that is tedious, and Narrative/Story players end up with a unwieldy and sluggish narrative game.
It is obvious at this point that the creative force  behind L5R 5E was pulling in all kinds of directions and none was able to set their vision.

So I am late to the game and just picked up the game… and most of the supplements (that’s just what I do when I buy games).  But first a bit of backstory.  I started playing L5R when it first hit the RPG world.  My friends knew I had an interest in Japan and also RPGs, so it was an easy hook… And we played the **** out that game until I moved abroad back in 2001.  So L5R had a very long break for me.   I was excited to see FFG pick this game up, but was a little worried.  Last time I played a FFG RPG was when they first released Warhammer, which played like board game… without a board.  They had some great concepts though that needed to be ironed out though. 
First thing though, is the story matching what happened in the original L5R?  I really hope not.  I would love FFG to go their own way completely.
So my impressions of the new game.  Well, I am still reading through it, but here are my impressions so far.
1)       Ok, so Hoturi has turned into a girl.  I’m not up on the fiction, but was that even necessary?  Whatever, its all good.  At least they gave her a name that actually makes sense in Japanese. We still have Toturi though… gah.  Yeah, I know… I focus on odd things.
2)      Speaking of girls, L5R has always had a gender mix from the beginning, this book now seems to be… well… trying too hard in that regard with role swapping. 
3)      Going back to point 1.  They have fixed most of the more bizarre names where the creators just were making the craziest stuff up that made 0 phonetic sense, so I am really happy about that to be honest.  The cities however still make me cringe.  Seriously…  The original creators just got a J-E dictionary and just started making up random stuff up.  Otosan Uchi always bothered me in particular… literally just 2 words plucked out of the dictionary with no grammatical glue to mean…Dad’s house…  I still cant say it with a straight face.
4)      The art is gorgeous, but is it just me or does it seem more Chinese?  It feels more Three Kingdoms than Sengoku Jidai.  This seems mostly problems with drawing Kimono… Granted, those things are constrictive.
5)      So now to mechanical things….  Successes, exploding successes, strife and opportunity… wait… Is there an actual mechanic for opportunity?  Maybe I haven’t got there yet.  Looking at other posts, I may never get there.  Oh well… House rule probably.
So, you can tell… I am a bit of a purist when it comes to history, but I also get that L5R is fantasy and just uses Japanese as its core.  Still I have plans to fix things…  At least from storytelling perspective.  I really have no compunction with retelling stories to make them more interesting.  Adding things I prefer and cutting away what I don’t.  I honestly don’t get why many DMs feel bound to tell someone else’s story exactly. 
Plan 1)  Redraw the map.  Going to make it more similar to Japan.  In fact, part of the redraw means renaming.  I will probably go with real Japanese place names though, just to make life easier.  It will also give me a chance to add some local flavor and legend I picked up while in Japan.  I also would like to explore making something akin to Korea so I can eventually make a campaign based on Hideyoshi’s invasion.
Got a work in progress right now... Not sure if I will keep it yet... It looks promising though.  Using the Inkarnate engine by the way...  Having fun just fiddling with it at the moment.

Plan 2) Throw most of the story characters out.  I might keep some of the very major players, but the mid level guys I have no use for… Ok, maybe keep one or two for useful NPCs. 
Plan 3) Make this not Asian-Lord-of-the-Rings.  I think I would like to use the Shadowlands more sparingly, and not make the story line so focused on Fu Leng’s/Sauron’s return.  I would instead like to introduce a Shogun instead and make the Emperor a figurehead… And then flip flop it a few times possibly.
Plan 4) Tinker with the Unicorn.  First thing is to rename the Utaku… because I still remember when they were the Otaku… Until AEG figured out that was actually a word.  I am thinking of calling them the Mosuo…  A not too subtle nod to the matriarchal Mosuo people of China.  The Mongol’s are well represented already in the Moto.  Maybe I should make each family a different culture absorbed into the Unicorn during their travels… That sounds fun.  
So I have lots of ideas.  It’s a big project that I don’t know if I will ever finish.  It will be fun.
 
Thoughts?  Suggestions?
Oh… and what RPG would be complete without some ambience music. 
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5gJjmARXMVhPbIApKcFVIk?si=DFOJUX5mTEK8M1selu4jzQ
 
Cheers all!

That!! That is the most important part of all my preparation. The npc sheets. Especially for L5R!! Npc and maps do the trick, mostly.
Anyway, I know a graphic designer is not free, but, this is something that wouldn't be expensive to do since they have all the setup. This is all part of my confusion how they handle the rpgs. Some things are very important and not that costly, sometimes I wonder if they do play the game lol.

I view it as problematic. It further devalues the Bushi schools, who already have to deal with Shinobi and Shugenja getting access to all their good stuff through titles.
Schools like Hida Defender do not need more than Rank one for the School Ability to be very powerful.

Which mean you didn't have your weapon ready before that happens, or you use a backup weapon, or use water stance.
I am simply not a fan of the flavor of it all maybe. It seems gimmicky, and doesn't make sense for a Iaijutsu technique.
The only cool thing about rising Blade is the range 0, imo. Which allow someone to draw a sword even if either immobilized, constrained, or stuck in a brawl and unable to move away etc.

It isn't "total garbage", but it is the worst of the Iaijutsu techniques, and, just a weird design that doesn't seem to provide the intent it was suppose to (be a good duel technique).

As it is written, it is mostly a gimmicky, sneaky technique that you use with a dagger in your boot at an opportune moment. Almost Shinobi-like in flavor.

 

Heartpiercing strike is much the same - if you screw up, you're going to do far worse than just missing with a generic strike.
Honestly wasn't asking for full details.
The key thing - given what @UnitOmega says - is that you can inflict a critical strike with it - which other Iaijutsu techniques can't.
The big restriction is that you can do so but only if you can incapacitate your opponent with the strike.
Which means it's not great for battlefield fights (where your opponent is probably in armour) but against a low-endurance courtier or duellist in flimsy formal robes it's not impossible, and lets you deliver the iconic 'one cut' that people obsess over being able to do (or not) in samurai-setting duels.
 
By comparison, crossing cut is best for a skirmish or duel-to-incapacitation because it massively amps up the damage a sword inflicts, and lets you throw out an opening strike at spear range.
Rising blade is best as a finishing blow technique in a duel to the death - if you get a finishing blow the opponent must be compromised therefore   it's TN1 (unlike the TN2 of crossing cut), and it has no downside (unlike reverse draw) if you miss.
 
 
There might be some interactions with it being a scheme action as well as an attack action - this will mostly be an advantage for particular schools, such as the Bayushi Manipulator's Weakness is my Strength, which works on Scheme actions specifically, and maybe unlocking some Shuji which specify 'scheme actions' rather than checks with specific skills (can't think of any off the top of my head but no doubt someone will dig up an example).

@Avatar111is right, it's one the problem with this edition of L5R, rule-wise: there's informations everywhere, about everything, in margins, really, everywhere. A lot of time you don't know where to search. It can really be an hindrance when playing.
That and calculing strife in battle for opposing PNJ can really drag the game unnecessarily.
A possible fix would be a "companion" or "player's guide" type of book, ordering things a little more.
Anyways, seems those books are finally gonna be released. It's good, I was begining to lose hope.

D&D 5e did it smartly. Released a corebook that was very polished and easy to learn, with a system that is easy to play, kept the crunch addition to a minimum in the sourcebook. The rest is setting stuff or "open source material" for people who likes crunch.
And, if you do not want to play a character who reads the book, you just play a non spellcaster.
L5R doesn't have that accessibility, cleanliness and polish. It is actually kind of unwieldy. Plus, it requires one **** of a good GM to run (even more so if the players are not familiar with the setting).
If you have a heavy setting game like that, you need a more streamlined system like blades in the dark, much more elegant and focuses on creating narratives.

It does some stuff better, some worst. 

For me, the ultimate mix would be to take some parts of L5R into Genesys. I can definitely see an amazing mix out of it. The dice are probably cooler in Genesys though, having those threat/despair is really interesting, it creates opportunities for "I swing at the opponent and hurt them, but, I drop or damage my sword". It also have more granular target numbers with difficulties, upgrades, setback dice etc. L5R is very stiff with TN 2-3-4 and that is mostly it, not many ways to add a quick bonus or penalty to a check, tough the roll and keep helps with "can't keep dice with strife" for example, that is cool, but not merely enough to be a game changer compared to the flexibility of the genesys narrative dice.

But those L5R approaches, advantages/disadvantages, stances, the way they handle strife, the fatigue vs critical hits etc... Some good stuff in there!

Honestly.. there is probably a masterpiece in waiting if you manage to properly mix both systems. And please, make those opportunities/advantages more streamlined, no more dozen of tables of relatively similar choices with bonuses that you need to keep track of over multiple turns.

I for one prefer quality over quantity. I know that isn't how the world goes though. I'd much rather we get a revised corebook than a new sourcebook, for example.
Ok, back in dreamland

I appreciate how they are constantly coming out with new and interesting ways to play L5R, but when playing a Samurai game I have no interest in playing a Gaijin.  I'm a little annoyed that there are so many Minor Clans left untouched and they're instead spending their time creating Gaijin.  I may be in the minority here, but I guess I feel they should flesh out the rest of Rokugan before going beyond its borders.
As a lifelong Mantis Player (nearly 15 years now), I actually kind of hate what that Yoritomo are in the RPG.  I'm patiently waiting to see what my Tsuruchi and Moshi are up to, but still no info on the Wasp or Centipede.  Have yet to play the new RPG because of this.  Guess I'll continue to wait.

Lacquered and Plated Armour do have Cumbersome - so you do suck a TN penalty to moving, but....yeah. With the hit roll and damage roll essentially condensed into a single roll, I'm not sure armour making you easier to hit is a great idea - especially since the base TN to hit you is only 2, and moving the TN by 1 is a huge deal in this system, compared to something like a D20 system.
 
I would agree. I don't mind how difficult it is to do something as long as there's a non-zero chance of success. Requiring  to land a critical strike on someone in earth stance is nearly, but not actually impossible, which feels like a better balance, especially when you have adversary-level opponents who are clearly designed around 'dirty tricks' to inflict and then exploit conditions.