Objective of the Game
Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game is a collectible card game where two players take control of powerful clans in the fictional land of Rokugan. The primary goal is to either conquer the opponent's realm through military or political conflicts or to achieve a nearly champion status honorably.
Setup
- Prepare Decks: Each player needs two decks:
- Dynasty Deck with characters, holdings, and strongholds.
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Conflict Deck with events, attachments, and tricks.
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Setup Layout: Arrange the following areas in front of you:
- Provinces: Four face-down card spaces for placing Dynasty Deck cards.
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Stronghold: Location for your stronghold card, providing additional abilities and protection.
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Starting Resources:
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Each player starts with 7 Fate tokens and 4 Honor points.
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Draw Cards:
- Draw 5 cards from your Conflict Deck.
Gameplay
The game consists of several Rounds, divided into the following Phases:
- Dynasty Phase
- Fill Provinces: Draw cards from the Dynasty Deck and place them face down on the provinces.
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Recruit: Spend fate to play Dynasty cards into the play area.
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Conflict Phase
- Initiate Conflicts: Choose a conflict type (military or political) and use characters to attack opponent provinces.
- Play Cards: Play cards from the Conflict Deck to affect conflicts.
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Resolve Conflict: Determine the outcome based on abilities and strength.
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Honor Bid
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Players secretly bid fate tokens to influence the number of cards to be drawn. The player with the lower bid receives honor from the opponent.
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Fate Phase
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Remove fate tokens from characters. Characters without fate are discarded.
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Regroup Phase
- Prepare for the next round. Replace or refill province cards.
Special Rules & Strategies
- Honor and Fate: These are crucial resources. Allocate them wisely. A player can also win by stealing all of an opponent's honor.
- Clan Cards: Each clan offers unique abilities and strategies to consider.
- Switch between military and diplomatic tactics to remain unpredictable.
- Consider carefully when to withhold conflicts or spend fate.
Winning the Game
The game ends when a player either conquers all of an opponent's provinces or destroys their stronghold, or raises their honor to 25. Loss occurs if the honor drops to 0.
