Legend of the Five Rings

Legend of the Five Rings (a.k.a "L5R") is a collectible card game created by the Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. The game is set in the fictional land of Rokugan, based on feudal Japan with influences from other east Asian cultures, where samurai and magical shugenja fight for dominion. It is similar to other collectible card games, such as Magic: The Gathering, but has its own unique game mechanics and flavor, most notably for its rich storyline. Games are often very long, and resolving a single match can take hours.

The deep, evolving story of Legend of the Five Rings is one of the things that sets it apart from most collectible card games. Players can influence this story as it progresses by participating in sanctioned tournaments, the winners of major tournaments (usually played at GenCon SoCal) getting to make pivotal decisions that can determine the storyline for years to come, with winners of minor tournaments influencing the storyline in lesser ways. On one occasion, the near-victory of the Shadowlands Horde - the archetypal evil of Legend of the Five Rings - in a major tournament spawned an entire expansion set in an "alternate future" of Rokugan where the hordes of evil had triumphed over good.

The game's setting has also inspired two role-playing games (one older, independent game and one in the form of a series of Dungeons & Dragons supplements), a miniature series, and a number of fiction books.

Game play

Legend of the Five Rings can be played with any number of players, although two to four are most common. Unlike most other collectible card games, Legend of the Five Rings is tailored to be especially enjoyable in games involving more than two players. Each player represents the leader of one of the Factions battling for power. As of July 2004, the currently playable Factions are each of the eight Great Clans, the Shadowlands Horde, and the Ratlings. Each player chooses a Stronghold card to represent their ancestral home, from where they direct their armies. Each Faction has multiple available Strongholds, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. In addition, each player may a choose a Wind, representing which aspect of the Rokugan imperial court they support, if any.

Honor is an important part of Rokugan, and each player has a Family Honor value. Your starting Family Honor depends on the Faction you are playing and the Stronghold you have chosen. During the course of the game, you can both gain and lose Family Honor from various actions and effects, as well as through winning battles and playing certain cards. Should your Family Honor ever drop to -20 or below, the game is instantly lost. Should you begin your turn with a Family Honor of 40 or above you win. This is called a political victory or an honor victory. The Shadowlands Horde is an exception; having no real concept of honor, they can neither gain nor lose Family Honor, and are always fixed at -19.

Another way to win is through a military victory. By destroying an opposing player's Provinces, you can knock them out of the game. Some decks also attempt to remove opponents from the game by dishonoring them, ie, to cause their Family Honor to drop to -20 or below. If you are the only remaining player, you have won the game through a military victory, although in the case of winning by dishonoring your opponent, it is often referred to as a dishonor victory.

A third way of winning the game is to achieve enlightenment - this is done by having all five Elemental Ring cards in play simultaneously. Each such card has its own criteria that have to be fulfilled before it can be played. Finally, certain cards can allow for other victory conditions to take effect, although there are currently no such cards that are legal in tournament play.

Each player in Legend of the Five Rings has two decks that are kept separate during play: One Dynasty deck, consisting of black-backed cards, and one Fate deck, consisting of green-backed cards. In tournament games, each deck must contain at least 40 cards, although there is no upper limit. This has also become a de facto standard for the majority of casual games. Furthermore, no deck may contain more than three of any particular card, and no more than one of any particular Unique card. In addition to a Fate deck and a Dynasty deck, each player must choose one Stronghold card to represent his Faction and ancestral home, and may choose a Wind card, representing his political alignment. Most cards cost Gold to play, which is produced by one's Stronghold and Holdings.

Game setup

At the beginning of a game, all player start by simultaneously revealing their chosen Stronghold and Wind card, if they have one. In tournaments where sideboard rules apply, players may now utilize that possibility. Then, each player may search his Fate deck for a Sensei and play it, if they wish to. A starting player is then determined, based on Family Honor: highest goes first. If there is a tie, some random method, such a die roll or coin toss, is used to decide who goes first. Then, each player shuffles his or her Fate and Dynasty decks, and places them some distance apart on the game surface. In tournaments, it is customary to allow your opponent to shuffle your decks as well. Each player then places their top four Dynasty cards face down on the table in front of them next to each other, representing their Provinces. Strongholds or other cards can change the number of Provinces you start with, however four is the normal number. Finally, each player draws five Fate cards and places in his or her hand.

Turn sequence

Game play is turn-based, and proceeds in clockwise order around the table. Each turn consists of several phases, taken in order:

Straighten phase: The active player straightens (returns to vertical orientation) any cards that are bowed (turned sideways), if he has any. Some times a player may choose to keep a card bowed; if so, he needs not straighten it now.
Events phase: The active player turns face up all his or her face-down cards in his or her provinces, starting from the left. If an Event card is turned face up this way, it takes effect immediately and is then discarded, and replaced by a new, face-down Dynasty card.
Action phase: The active player may now take any number of Limited or Open actions he or she can. Opposing players may take Open actions if they can. These are typically played either from Fate cards, or from Personalities or Holdings in play. Actions are taken in clockwise order; first the active player may take an action, then the next player may do so, and so on until all players pass consecutively. In addition, the active player may play Followers, Items, and Spells on any Personalities he or she may have in play, as Limited actions, as well as move such cards between Personalities.
Battle phase: The active player may at this point choose to declare combat against another player. Should he wish to do so, he should announce it clearly at this point. Both attacker and defender may now choose to invite allies, should the game involve more than two players. Invited allies may join the battle on either side. Attacks are divided into segments:
- Infantry maneuvers segment: First, the attack assigns any infantry units he wishes to use in the battle to an opposing Province. If an ally of the attacker wishes to send any units into the battle, he should do so now. This is done in turn order, going clockwise. Then, the defender assigns defenders in the same way, to his own Provinces, and then his or her allies may do the same, in a similar fashion. Note that a player cannot be allied to both parties at once! It is perfectly legal for any party involved to not assign a single unit in a battle, though. If an ally sends any units to help, he or she immediately gains 2 Family Honor.
- Cavalry maneuvers segment: The same procedure is repeated, with cavalry units. The benefit of having cavalry units becomes clear here; if your opponent only has infantry units, he or she must defend "blindly", not knowing where your cavalry might attack. As before, it is legal to not assign any units; if the attacker feels that he has bitten more than he can chew, he can choose simply to not assign any units.
- Next, the attacking player chooses which of the relevant battles to resolve first. Note that technically, there are battles at all Provinces, even such where there are no cards assigned. This can have significance, as there are cards that can move units between battles, and that should a unit be moved into a battle that has already been resolved, they simply move out of the battle without any additional effect. For each battle, these steps are performed:
  - Battle action segment: Beginning with the defending player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player may play as many Open or Battle actions they want, provided they satisfy rules of Relevance (actions must be relevant to the battle) and of Presence (the player must have a unit in the battle or receive a unit in the battle as a result of the action). Play continues until all players pass consecutively. The majority of a battle is spent in this segment, and the results of the battle are often decided by which cards are played at this point.
  - Resolution segment: Finally, the Force of both armies are totalled and compared. If one side has more combined Force than the other, that side is declared the victor. The opposing army is destroyed, and the winner receives 2 Family Honor for each card destroyed. If the attacker was the winner, he or she may go on to attempt to destroy the Province in question. Any additional Force above that required to destroy the opposing army is compared against the opposing player's Province Strength - if the Province Strength is exceeded (not matched), the Province is destroyed and any cards in it or attached to it are destroyed. If the battle is a tie, both armies are destroyed, and each player gains 1 Family Honor for each card in the opposing army that was destroyed.
Dynasty phase: Once any battles are resolved, the active player may begin to purchase face up cards in his Provinces (not cards attached to his Provinces). All such cards have a printed Gold cost that must be paid to purchase the card. There are two main ways of producing Gold to pay for costs. Your Stronghold has a printed Gold production value. By bowing (turning sideways) your Stronghold, you can produce that much Gold to pay for whatever you wish to buy. Furthermore, most Holdings produce Gold when bowed. Early on in the game, it is vital to get a good Gold production going, and to buy lots of Gold-producing Holdings to this purpose. Purchased cards are put into play (Holdings come into play bowed; Personalities come into play unbowed), and the Province is immediately refilled with a face-down card.
Draw phase: Next, the active player draws the top Fate card from his deck. If he runs out of cards, nothing in particular happens apart from losing the ability to get further Fate cards. Then, if he or she has more than eight cards in hand, they must discard down to that number.
End of turn: The turn is now over. Play proceeds in a clockwise fashion until a player wins.

Winning the game

There are several ways to win the game:

If all of a player's Provinces are destroyed, they are out of the game. Removing all of your opponents in this fashion is called a military victory. Most militaristic factions, such as Lion, Crab, and the Shadowlands Horde, go for this kind of victory.
If a player's Family Honor is ever reduced to -20, they are eliminated, as if they had lost all their Provinces. It is possible with some card combinations to lower an opposing player this far, but it's not an easy feat and thus not a common strategy. Perhaps the only Faction capable of pulling this off is the Scorpion clan.
If a player starts his or her turn with 40 or higher Family Honor, they win the game. This is called an honor victory, and is a common strategy for Phoenix and Crane players.
If a player ever has all five elemental rings in play at once, they win the game. This is called an enlightenment victory. Any clan can achieve this, but the most common clan to do is the Dragon (or, historically, the Brotherhood of Shinsei).
Certain cards, most notably certain Events, can create new victory conditions. There are currently no such cards that are legal in tournament play, however. There are cards which can create new loss conditions, however. For example, some decks attempt to use a condition of the Event "Doom of the Dark Lord" to make their opponent lose the game.

Cards and deck construction

As with most collectible card games, decks are usually constructed beforehand, and tend to be geared towards a particular purpose or goal, with cards chosen that are believed to most optimally attain that goal through a given strategy. In Legend of the Five Rings, each deck is actually divided into two decks - a Fate deck and a Dynasty deck - and although these are kept separate for all purposes in-game, both decks are kept as a cohesive unit and are always designed and used together.

Depending on the strategy one chooses to employ, the focus on different kinds of cards is going to vary. A player going mainly for an honor victory is likely not to include many aggressive combat cards, preferring to focus on cards that improve his honor gain and defensive cards, to prevent enemies from destroying him before he can reach his goal. Similarly, military decks would include many Personalities and Followers, and must make sure to have a large base of Gold-producing cards to be able to afford them.

Dynasty cards

Dynasty cards have card black backs and can be of the following types:

Events are great events that affect all of Rokugan. They have a one-shot effect, after which they are discarded. All Events are Unique, even if the trait is not printed on the card. Events have a light blue background.
Personalities are great leaders, such as powerful samurai or shugenja, that can be recruited to fight for your cause. Most Personalities have a family name and a given name (for example, "Shiba Tsukune" - in Rokugan, family names come first), and a Faction alignment. That is not always the case, however; others only have one name, or don't represent a person at all, but rather a particular kind of creature (such as "Ogre Bushi"). Personalities have a Force and a Chi attribute, that represents their physical and mental power, respectively, and a Personal Honor attribute that determines, among other things, which Followers they may attach. Furthermore Personalities have, in addition to their Gold cost, an Honor Requirement, which your Family Honor must meet or exceed for you to be able to recruit the Personality. Personality cards' backgrounds differ depending on their Faction alignment.
Holdings are economical assets that provide an income or some other effect, or loyal subjects (Retainers) that can provide some sort of benefit, often at a cost. Holdings are vital to any game strategy, as without them, you have very little income, and without income you cannot play any more interesting cards. Another kind of Holding is the Fortification, used to strengthen Provinces and improve your defensive capabilities. Holdings have bluish green backgrounds.
Regions represent parts of Rokugan with special significance. When a Region is played, it is automatically attached to the Province in which it appears - if one is already present, the new Region is discarded instead. All Regions are Singular, even if they are not printed with that trait. Regions remain in play and have a wide variety of different effects. Regions have light tan backgrounds.

Fate cards

Fate cards have green card backs can be of the following types:

Actions are typically one-shot effects that can have one or more of the Limited, Open, Battle, and Reaction specifiers, telling when the card may be played. After an Action card is used, it is discarded. A special kind of Actions are Kihos, that invoke some sort of mysterious power and require a monk or shugenja to work. They are still Actions, however, and have one of the specifiers listed above. Actions have a red background, with Kihos being slightly different.
Items are various pieces of equipment or artifacts that bestow various effects when used. Items must be attached to a Personality to be useful, and once attached, they give some kind of beneficiary effect, printed on the card. There is no limit to the number of Items a Personality can attach, but a Personality can only have one Weapon and one Armor equipped at any time. Items have a gray background.
Spells are mystical incantations scribed on ofuda, magic scrolls, that shugenja may attach and use to create magical effects. They are attached much in the same way as Items, but can only be attached by shugenja. Once attached, the shugenja may use the Actions printed on the spell. Under older rules, a shugenja could only attach a number of Spells up to their Chi, but that rule has since been removed, and under current rules a shugenja may attach any number of Spells. Spells have a blue background.
Followers are soldiers that your Personalities may lead into battle. Followers are attached like Items, but some times have an Honor Requirement that must be met before they can be played - the value used here is not your Family Honor, but the Personal Honor of the Personality they are being attached to. Once attached, the Followers grant a Force bonus to the Personality's unit, as well as provide special effects in many occasions. There is no limit on the number of Followers a Personality can attach. Followers have an orange background.
Ancestors represent the power inherent in a Personality,descended from a great Rokugani hero. Ancestors are attached like Followers, with similar Honor Requirements, but may not be moved or removed. In addition, each Ancestor is tied to a particular Faction, and only Personalities of the appropriate Faction may attach them. All Ancestors are Unique, even if they are not printed with that trait, and have emerald backgrounds.
Elemental Rings represent mastery of one of the five elements: Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Void. There are five such cards, one for each element. Each Ring requires a particular set of criteria to be fulfilled before it can be played; as soon as you have fulfilled the requirements, simply play the card from your hand. Once in play, each Rings grants a powerful Elemental Benefit, and should you at any point have all five in play at once, you win an enlightenment victory. In addition to the normal five cards, there are five Dark Rings that represent the corrupted side of the rings. These may not be used to win an enlightenment victory, however. Recently, the original five rings were revised, with the five new rings being radically different from the original five.
Sensei cards represent the person who was your teacher while you grew to maturity, often some well-known Rokugani hero. Sensei are almost always played at the beginning of the game, before actual game play commences, but they are Fate cards in their own right and take up space in your Fate deck. The various Sensei can cause a number of different effects, usually at some cost - often a decrease in starting stats. Most Sensei are also bound to certain clans, much like Ancestors. Sensei have a yellow background.

Other cards

There are two card types that do not belong in either deck:

Strongholds represent the ancestral home of your family. Each Faction has at least one Stronghold, most having several, and one is required to play. The only way to obtain a Stronghold is to purchase a clan starter pack, which contain one or two Strongholds belonging to your faction. Each Stronghold is printed with three values, determining your Province Strength and Starting Family Honor, and the amount of Gold the Stronghold can produce when bowed. Usually, Strongholds are also capable of producing various effects.
Winds represent which aspect of the imperial court that you support, and grants you the ability to discard the Imperial Favor, should you have it, to produce various effects. This represents the influence you have over the imperial court and what favors you can call upon. Previously, the concept of Winds didn't exist, but beginning with the Four Winds story arc, beginning with the death of the former emperor and a struggle to see which of his children would take the throne, Winds have been a part of the game. There were originally four winds, each representing one of the potentates and their favored aspects. Later, another wind, Daigotsu, was added to represent the dark influence of the Shadowlands upon Rokugan, and in Diamond Edition (following Hantei Naseru's rise to the throne) the four original winds have been replaced by various aspects of the court.

Product information

Legend of the Five Rings is produced and marketed by the Alderac Entertainment Group.

The game is published in base sets (also called editions), expansion sets and promotional sets.

Base Sets

A base set is a set of about 500 cards. New base sets are published every two or three years. Each base set consists of a different group of cards, though many cards appear in multiple sets. Most of the cards in base sets are reprints of old cards.

These cards are available in the following ways.

Individual boosters, each containing 15 cards

A box of boosters, containing a large number of boosters, along with a special promotional card.

Starters, one for each faction. Each starter contains two Stronghold cards for the corresponding faction, a number of other cards useful for that faction, and a number of random cards. Some cards can only be found in starters, and never appear in boosters.

A box of starters, along with a special promotional card.

The current base set is Diamond Edition.

The publication of a new base set represents three things:

The rules of the game are revised and changed as deemed necessary.

A new story arc begins. The story of the previous set has reached a conlcusion, and new protagonists and antagonists are introduced. A great number of (fictional) years may pass between sets, and the main characters in the story may be the heirs of those in the previous set. The rulebook for each base set contains a short story that will set the scene for the coming arc.

Many old cards are made illegal for normal tournament play. Only those with a special symbol, called a bug are allowed. For example, if the current base set is Diamond Edition, only Diamond Bugged cards are allowed in play. Even friendly games are usually expected to be played with Diamond Legal decks. Old cards without the diamond bug, but which have since been reprinted with the diamond bug, are also legal.

Expansion Sets

Expansion sets contain fewer cards than base sets (about 150), but these cards are all entirely new to the game. Each expansion set represents a new section of the plot in the story arc, often being named after a certain event that has happened in the storyline (eg, "Fall of Otosan Uchi"). As such, a story is published with the expansion, and the cards will often represent characters and events that correspond to it.

Expansion sets are published about every four months. Cards from expansion sets can be obtained in the following ways.

Individual boosters of 11 random cards

Boxes of boosters

Starters. Unlike starters for base sets, expansions feature only three factions at a time, and so only three distinct starters are available. Again, unlike base set starters, expansion starters only contain one stronghold.

Booster packs of the following expansion sets contain only Diamond Legal cards:

Fall of Otosan Uchi

Heaven and Earth

Winds of Change

Reign of Blood

The Hidden City

Wrath of the Emperor

Starters from Fall of Otosan Uchi, Heaven and Earth, and Winds of Change contain some cards that are not Diamond Legal.

Promotional Sets

Promotional sets are published irregularly, but there will usually be one main promotional set per expansion.

Some promotional sets, eg 1000 Years of Darkness (the main promotional set for Gold Edition), can only be bought as a unit, which contains copies of every card in that set. There is no randomness involved in collecting such sets, but they can be difficult or expensive to obtain, because they are only made available to fan club members.

The main promotional set for Diamond Edition, Dawn of the Empire, will be released shortly.

Another type of promotional set is a training set. For example, this year, Training Grounds was published, which featured two preconstructed decks for use in learning the game. This set was highly sought after even by experienced gamers, however, because it contained several cards which were otherwise expensive or difficult to get. Almost all cards in training sets have been published elsewhere, but a few new promotional cards are also included.

Some promotional cards are also published as prize support for tournaments, and can only be obtained by attending these tournaments.

Also note that cards from every type of set can usually be bought individually in stores. The prices of individual cards vary greatly depending on rarity and utility (supply and demand). Many players trade cards in order to obtain those they need.

Rokugan

Legend of the Five Rings is set in the fictional land of Rokugan, , based on feudal Japan with influences from other east Asian cultures, where samurai and magical shugenja fight for dominion. Rokugan itself is home to mostly humans, divided into a society based on clans, with seven Great Clans and various minor ones, all under the rule of Emperor Toturi III. They are constantly threatened by gaijin raiders and others, but the main threat still lies to the southwest of Rokugan: The deadly wastes of the Shadowlands, where demonic hordes roam.

See the article on Rokugan for more information on Rokugan, the Great Clans, and other story aspects of Legend of the Five Rings.

External links

Legend of the Five Rings (http://www.l5r.com) - official Legend of the Five Rings home page
Alderac Entertainment Group (http://www.alderac.com) - creators of Legend of the Five Rings
Legendary L5R Search (http://www.l5rsearch.com) - searchable database of Legend of the Five Rings cards
Tsuruchi's Arrow (http://www.tsuruchi.com) - A website focused on the Mantis Clan. Home to The Kobune Port, the most widely used Legend of the Five Rings discussion forum.

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