Nikutai L5R
Table of Contents
1 Intro
Where in standard L5R, you play at the Daimyo/Champion level and command the fate of the Empire, in these rules, you'd be playing a samurai of a much humbler station. Thus we call this "Nikutai L5R."
2 Deck construction rules
- All new-backed cards are legal. Only new-backed cards are legal.
- No cards with the following traits: Unique, Clan Champion, Daimyo
- No Events or Regions
- Only one copy of each card in your deck (highlander style)
- Only Great Clan strongholds (no Spirit, Naga, Ratling, Brotherhood, Toturi's Army or Shadowlands)
- No Spider strongholds
- "Soul Of" still works as it should (so you can't have Daidoji Gudeta and Daidoji Kinta in the same deck).
3 Single-Sided Strongholds
If you're using a single-sided stronghold card, it gains the following trait:
- If you do not go first this game, before the game starts you may choose to either place a +1 province strength token on this stronghold or gain 2 family honor at the start of your first turn.
4 Banned cards
- Akuma no Oni
- Crushing Attack
- Deadly Ground
- Entrapping Terrain
- Razor's Edge Dojo
- Sentei no Oni
- Torrential Rain
5 Imperial Favor / Winds
Since we're dealling with lower-ranked samurai in these rules, it doesn't make sense that you'd command the favor of the Emperor. But a powerful courtier or magistrate might still owe you favors. To depict this, we're going to pilfer the old Winds idea. Each wind represents a politician or official that you regularly suck up to.
The rules for lobbying are the same as in the rule book. Here, we just use the word "Favor" for narrative purposes. For rules purposes, it is interchangeable with the Imperial Favor.
Winds are as follows:
5.1 Diplomat
Toturi Tsudao. Left Hand of the Emperor.
Repeatable Political Absent Battle: Bow this card or discard the Favor to bow a unit then move it home.
5.2 Warrior
Akodo Kaneka. Right Hand of the Emperor.
Favor Repeatable Political Open: Bow this card or discard the Favor to reduce the gold cost of a follower by 3.
5.3 Conniver
Hantei Naseru. Underhand of the Emperor.
Favor Repeatable Political Interrupt: Bow this card or discard the Favor to negate the action's honor gain.
5.4 Mystic
Toturi Sezaru. Voice of the Emperor.
Favor Repeatable Political Limited: Bow this card or discard the Favor to draw an extra card at the end of your turn.
5.5 Tainted
Shadowlands. Black Heart of the Empire.
You may not lobby for the Favor. For the rest of the game, your personalities are dishonored.
Favor Political Open: Bow this card and remove it from the game to set your family honor to -5. This is neither a gain nor a loss of honor. Destroy a Temple, Shrine or honor-producing holding.
6 Additional Rules
- The Double Chi trait is treated as if it were Duelist
- Yoritomo's Alliance counts as Mantis Clan
- Cards that give permanent bonuses or penalties give them in the form of a token for each point of the bonus granted. (Permanent +2F is two +1F tokens instead). This makes accounting easier. Good thing Setsuban Festival's an Event, huh?
- Other modifications (such as "Permanently give Cavalry") are also denoted with tokens.
7 Additional Rules for LULZ
All players have the following abilities:
7.1 Seppuku
Political Interrupt: When an action targeting your Samurai, Shugenja or Courtier personality causes an honor loss, restore that personality to honorable status and destroy him. Negate the honor loss.
7.2 Dark Summon
Maho Ritual Limited: Target your unbowed Shugenja and an Oni personality in one of your provinces. Destroy any number of unbowed personalities you control as "sacrifices." Reduce the cost of the target Oni by the shugenja's Chi plus the total gold cost of the sacrificed personalities. Destroy the Shugenja. Lose 3 honor for each card destroyed by this ability.
7.3 Feeding Evil
Maho Battle/Open: Destroy a personality you control to give your Oni a Force or Chi bonuse equal to the same stat on the destroyed personality. Lose 3 honor.
8 Conclusion
Other than that, you play all the rules exactly as you find them in the latest rulebook; all cards are played by their most recent printing (so Doji Seo and Doji Seishiro can be in the same deck), win by starting with 40 honor, getting out 5 rings, or being the last player standing.