The Scorpion

by Eugene Earnshaw
Player Design Team

My first exposure to Legend of the Five Rings was through the roleplaying game. When I made my very first character, I thought it would be cool to have a nemesis – a rival who could interfere with me, mastermind secret plans to make my life miserable, and generally provide the needed quota of villainy that makes any story interesting. And given what I knew about the setting, it seemed natural that my nemesis should be from the Scorpion clan. They seemed like perfect villains.

That’s what makes the Scorpion cool: they are Rokugan’s best villains. Well, that, and the ninja. The Scorpion are totally ruthless, dishonourable, the antithesis of what Rokugan stands for… but they are also the defenders of the empire, the most loyal of the loyal, Rokugan’s last resort when everything else fails. And the masks are wicked cool. The shadowlands may get most of the press for villainy, but the Scorpion are where the real action is at. Their Clan Champion is a ruthless psychopathic killer – and was formally named the Defender of the Empire. Within living memory the Clan assassinated one emperor and attempted to take over Rokugan, kidnapped the Crane Clan champion and replaced him with an (evil) duplicate, was banished to the Burning Sands, murdered the Mantis Clan Champion, and fought a civil war against its own members who went on to attempt to turn the Emperor into a powerless figurehead. That’s not even counting all the stuff that rogue Scorpions have done, such as ‘I am the embodiment of the lying darkness’ Shosuro and ‘I shall open the black scrolls and release the dark god Fu Leng to destroy the Empire’ Yogo Junzo.

Plus, Scorpion are the ninja clan. I don’t know about you, but when I think of what is cool about a fantasy setting that is influenced by Japanese culture, I think about two things: samurai, and ninja. Every clan has samurai, but if you want your ninja fix, there’s only one place to go: the Scorpion are where it’s at. I came to Scorpion for the villainy, but I stayed for the ninja.

Sketch of Upcoming Samurai Edition Art

In the CCG, the Scorpion are one of the most varied of clans. They have had some of the most ruthlessly fast and brutal beatdown decks – Yogo blitz in Gold edition, Soshi Dueling Swarm during Lotus edition – as well as some of the most intricate ‘skill’ decks, such as Shadowed Tower political control back in Diamond edition. A Scorpion player usually has the option of playing nearly every legal card in the environment, because Scorpion normally has access to political actions, and shugenja for spells and kiho, and strong military cards as well. This gives a loyal Scorpion player many options for both competitive and friendly environments.

Scorpion has also traditionally had a way of winning available to them that no other clan could usually manage: the dishonor victory. Only in L5R could you have decks that win by bringing shame on the families of their foes! While Scorpion has had playable dishonor decks in every edition since the Clan has existed, that has usually been in spite of the efforts of the designers. In Samurai edition, we plan to make dishonor decks a featured, supported aspect of the Scorpion clan. For older players who still have traumatic flashbacks to games being conceded after an early Breach of Etiquette or Wind’s Truth, don’t worry – dishonor decks in Samurai edition will not rely on (or even be able to) prevent their opponents from bringing their personalities into play. Of course, dishonor will just be one of the possibilities for Scorpion to consider. Like I said, it’s always been a clan with options, and that isn’t going to change.

The Scorpion may not be the biggest clan, and they may not be the richest. They probably aren’t the most powerful, and they certainly aren’t the most honourable. But I still think they’re the best. What can I say? I’m a fan. If I could have my way in the storyline, the next emperor would be a Bayushi. I mean, we definitely have the most experience at usurping the throne. Chagatai isn’t in our league – he waited for the previous emperor to die before he made his play. That’s how wusses usurp the throne.

But I digress. To summarise:
Best Villains = Scorpion
Stylin’ Masks = Scorpion
Ninja = Scorpion
Cool Decks = Scorpion
Best Clan = Scorpion
Next Emperor of Rokugan = Scorpion (Eugene’s mad theory! - Ed.)