Welcome to L5R

By Todd C. Rowland
Brand Manager, Legend of the Five Rings

Greetings!

If you have played L5R in the past, welcome back! A lot of this article will be old news to you. However, if you have never drawn your katana against an oni, slammed a tetsubo into a zombie’s head, or faced a fellow samurai in a duel of honor, we welcome you!

Legend of the Five Rings is an interactive storyline game. What this means simply is that your actions will directly contribute to the story of Legend of the Five Rings. The choices you make in building your decks can have an impact on the lives of the characters in your Clan. Characters can be met with great glory, or great tragedy, all because of you. What makes Legend of the Five Rings unique however, is that these changes are not just cosmetic. Future expansions and cards will be developed based off of your actions.

Perhaps the most exciting part of L5R is that players affect the game in so many more ways than simply winning card tournaments. Online player movements have saved characters from falling to evil. Single players have championed minor characters to the point that they have become folk heroes, some even being elevated to minor diety status in the story. Legend of the Five Rings is all about the players and what they do with the game.

But, as in anything, life isn’t always fair. Sometimes odds will be stacked against your Clan. Sometimes heavily. How you choose to rise up and combat those odds can greatly change the fate of your Clan. Take for instance the current Race for the Throne. This massive event, one of the largest in L5R history, is going to determine the Clan who claims the Imperial Throne in 2008. Right now, the Unicorn are on a massive push militarily. The Khan has rallied his entire Clan and using travel magic they push through the winter towards the capital. As such, the Khan has received bonuses towards winning the Kotei season, our regional tournament season, before it even begins.

Is this fair to those who oppose the Khan? No, not entirely, but name a single war that has been fair to one side or the other. Now is the time for those who oppose the Khan to rise up against him and make their voices heard. Fight and win, stand your Clan against the Khan, or be ready to see the Imperial Palace covered in purple and white.

Legend of the Five Rings is all about the Clans. You can learn more about them on our Clans page and by taking the Which Clan are You quiz. The Clans page will also direct you to the online communities of each Clan, so that you can get in touch with your fellow Clan-mates and discuss strategy.

L5R is more than just the card game however. Our Roleplaying games have been in publication for over 10 years and we are now in the Third Edition. L5R RPG uses the Roll-and-Keep system. It’s a very deadly system, but then again, you are swinging four foot razors at each other! As you might guess, the ability to roleplay your way out of some fights is very important! The world of L5R is one of a strict samurai society, and your roleplaying skills are tested with each game. And to show our commitment to allow all L5R players to affect the storyline, there will be several Role-Playing related elements in the Race for the Throne.

We thank you for joining us in telling the story of the world of Rokugan, and we hope to see you standing tall at our events, yelling the name of your Clan with might and glory! BANZAI!