“It was in the sky. A definite point among the stars had a claim on him and was calling him. In the morning it had been underfoot; afternoon found it rising in the southeast, and now it was roughly south but wheeling toward the west.”
   –H.P. Lovecraft, The Dreams in the Witch House

You thought your mission was simple—discover the fate of four missing persons who disappeared from a charity event hosted by the social elite. But at every turn, you have been forced to face truths more terrible than anything you could imagine. And now, after what you saw at the Unvisited Isle, your faith in humanity is on thin ice. You feel as lost and wayward as one of the spirits that haunt your every moment, whether awake or dreaming. Are you going mad? Is this what the world is now? Or has it always been this way?

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce In the Clutches of Chaos, the penultimate Mythos Pack in The Circle Undone cycle for Arkham Horror: The Card Game—now available for pre-order at your local retailer or online through our website!

VII • The Chariot

The conquest has begun. All shall tremble before the host of chaos. Submit or perish.

After your fateful investigation in Union and Disillusion, the state of the city continues to decay. Breaches in reality begin to rip through the fabric of the Earth, and a faint melody of discordant pipes can be heard throughout the streets of Arkham. Tendrils of mist reach out of the woods that border the town, stretching over Hangman’s Brook and crawling through the streets. Windows are shut tight, and if you didn’t know any better, you would swear that the place was a ghost town. Everyone is closed in, safe as possible, waiting for something to happen. Except for you. Always you.

As you face down the darkness with In the Clutches of Chaos, doom does not accrue at the usual rate. Instead, breaches are made at various locations like

French Hill

(In the Clutches of Chaos, 290) and marked by resource tokens. When enough breaches have been made at a single location, in this case Arkham’s richest and most historical neighborhood, an incursion occurs! An incursion adds doom to its location and causes the breaches to spread, opening rifts in reality at connecting locations.

As an investigator, your goal is to prevent these incursions by removing the breaches that cause them, but this can only be done by activating the dangerous action abilities on each location. Returning to French Hill, you must discard a card from your hand to move a breach from the location to the current act. If you don’t maintain control over the breaches, you may soon find yourself overwhelmed and Arkham will fall into madness. Naturally, you cannot allow that to happen.

Call for Reinforcements

Most of Arkham has locked their doors and shuttered their windows against the coming storm, but there are still those who will stand alongside you in your fight to save the city. An experienced Guardian can call for some

Agency Backup

(In the Clutches of Chaos, 274). With more health and sanity than any other Guardian Ally, this brave band will protect not only your investigator, but your entire team, taking damage or horror for any investigator at the location. Beyond just using the agency as a human shield, you can also put their skills to use. By dealing them damage, you can harm a nearby enemy; or by dealing them horror, you can quickly discover a clue. If you step into the shoes of

Leo Anderson

(The Forgotten Age, 1) and act as an

Inspiring Presence

(The Pallid Mask, 228) for your

Trusted

(The Forgotten Age, 19) allies, you can become a nigh unstoppable force that any enemy would be mad to go up against.

While Guardians may be happy to run into a situation with guns blazing, Mystics tend to prefer a more practiced approach. With the assistance of the powerful

Dayana Esperence

(In the Clutches of Chaos, 279), Mystics can store their Spell events, like the upgraded

Deny Existence

(In the Clutches of Chaos, 280), waiting for the opportune moment and having this Witch cast them instead. In this way, they are protected from the discard pile, as Dayana can cast them time and again on your behalf.

In this adventure, you may wish to stick together, but with breaches erupting across the city, you may have no choice but to split up. Still, there is one class that is used to being alone. If you take on the role of a hardened survivor, you gain access to a new event in the form of

Trial by Fire

(In the Clutches of Chaos, 281), which allows you to set the base value of any one of your skills to five for your turn. Now, you can fill whatever role your team needs for a single vital turn, whether that means clearing clues from a location with high shroud or dealing the final blow to a particularly nasty enemy. The ordeal of this mission will push you to your limits, forcing you to endure more than any mortal should have to bear, but there is no telling what you are capable of until your team and the rest of your city turns to you in search of an answer. When you are their last hope, you cannot fail them.

Once More Unto the Breach

You never asked for this responsibility, but Arkham is teetering on the edge of madness and only you can save the city from the judgement it has brought down upon its own head. Stop the rips in reality and save Arkham from the terrors that lurk beyond!

Look for In the Clutches of Chaos (AHC34) when it arrives at retailers in the second quarter of 2019! You can pre-order your copy of this Mythos Pack at your local retailer today or online through our website here!

The Separatist Alliance’s Vulture-class droid fighters are manufactured to precise specifications and—in most cases—it’s impossible for Republic pilots to distinguish individual ships from the larger swarm. But soon, attendees of AdeptiCon 2019 will have the chance to make their Vulture droids stand out from the rest of the pack.

Fantasy Flight Games is happy to announce the Limited Edition Vulture-class Droid Fighter Expansion Pack for X-Wing™, exclusively available at AdeptiCon 2019!

One of a Kind

If you’re coming to AdeptiCon 2019, you’ll be one of the few who has the chance to pick up this expansion pack, featuring a beautiful Vulture-class droid fighter miniature sporting a striking metallic paint scheme that’s sure to stand out among your swarms of Separatist fighters. In addition to the miniature, those who purchase this Limited Edition expansion will also find five ship cards, five upgrade cards, and two Quick Build Cards, along with the rest of the components they need to add this one-of-a-kind fighter to their Separatist squadrons. (All of these cards and components are identical to the ones included in the standard Vulture-class Droid Fighter Expansion Pack.)

Aside from growing your squadron with an exclusive fighter, AdeptiCon is the perfect opportunity for fans in the miniature war gaming community to experience tournaments, seminars, and other events, covering all aspects of the hobby. This year, Fantasy Flight Games will be hosting its own panel, covering Star Wars™: Legion, X-Wing, and Star Wars™: Armada. Join us at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 28, in the Euphoria ballroom for this discussion with designers Alex Davy and Brooks Flugaur-Leavitt, including a chance for you to ask your own questions!

And last but not least, you’ll also have the chance to compete or watch the best in the Star Wars: Armada and Imperial Assault World Championships, as well as plenty of other Organized Play tournaments and events, including an X-Wing System Open and the Star Wars: Legion High Command Inivitational. Even if you’re not playing yourself, you’ll still have the chance to watch these games played at the highest level, so make your plans to stop by the event space today!

Come See Us at AdeptiCon

We’ll be on hand for all five days of AdeptiCon 2019, and there’s plenty for you to see and do. Make your plans to visit the Fantasy Flight Games booth and be the first to demo and purchase all the latest products for our miniatures games—then, be sure that you come to our panel and pick up your very own Limited Edition Vulture-class Droid Fighter Expansion Pack, exclusively available at AdeptiCon 2019!

“Wars not make one great.”
   –Yoda, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Imperial walkers close in on the Rebel base as the last transports flee. Amidst the chaos, a few select heroes step forward to protect the refugees, never knowing that they may be forced to return to the very planet that they had once fled. 

You may have already had the chance to play the free Return to Hoth campaign in the Legends of the Alliance companion app for Imperial Assault. Today, we take a peek behind the curtain at the trials and triumphs of its design process with Tony Fanchi and Todd Michlitsch in this week’s designer journal!

Tony and Todd on the Return to Hoth Campaign for Legends of the Alliance

At the opening of the Return to Hoth campaign for the Legends of the Alliance companion app, it is several days after the Battle of Hoth. Our heroes are stranded on the Imperial-controlled ice planet and they must find a way to escape. Luckily, they are not alone. Joining them are two Echo Base troopers, Lieutenant Talcon and Corporal Kish—who you might remember from the Legends of the Alliance tutorial missions!

As the heroes and their trooper allies trudge across Echo Base’s now-defunct trench line, they are assaulted by Imperial forces under the command of General Sorin. Accompanying this Imperial patrol is a vehicle the heroes have never seen before, the SC2-M Repulsor Tank. This vehicle proves too well armored for the heroes and troopers, so they must find an alternate means of taking it down.

Much of what you encounter in this campaign may be familiar if you played through the physical Return to Hoth expansion, but for this new take on the Return to Hoth campaign in the Legends of the Alliance app, we decided to make Sorin’s Repulsor Tank central to the plot. We wanted the tank to not only make an appearance in the opening mission, but to be impervious to normal attacks. Thus, the opening mission presents the players with a formidable puzzle: how do you defeat an indestructible enemy?

The initial version of the mission presented a satisfying puzzle, but once it was solved, it became a little too easy to rush to the ending of this mission, especially upon repeat plays. As we revised, we decided that players would need to not only defeat the tank, but the entire Imperial patrol! This incentivizes you to spend more time dealing with the other Imperial forces, rather than just rushing to defeat the tank… but you still can’t take too long to take out the tank, however, because it is such a powerful threat. Leave it alive too long, and it will blast your team to bits!

Another late addition to this mission was the DF.9 Anti-Infantry Battery. Players first encountered one of these laser turrets (albeit in less-than-working condition) in the introductory mission from the original Return to Hoth campaign, which also has a mechanism for allowing the heroes to fire this turret. So, we decided to bring this mechanic back, with some tweaks to take advantage of the app’s functionality.

In the original campaign, this turret could only be fired four times in the entire mission. For the digital mission, it can be fired any number of times, but only twice per round. This keeps the turret as a tool the heroes can use throughout the mission, but also limits the frequency with which it can be used. And as you might expect, there are some other interesting ways that you could use the turret, but if you haven’t played the campaign yet, we’ll leave those for you to discover.

One other element of this mission that we liked a lot is the Echo Base Troopers. On this mission, the heroes are accompanied by Lieutenant Talcon and Corporal Kish, in the form of a regular Echo Base Trooper group. These Echo Base Troopers are a powerful pair for the players. Their Front-Line ability gives them strong attacks, stronger even than most hero starting weapons, so long as they are in close with the enemy. At five health, they won’t survive long in close quarters, so keeping them alive becomes a challenge. However, you may find it’s worth your while to keep them alive through the entirety of the mission…

Designing a Mission

As we continued to move forward, we knew the second mission of the campaign needed to introduce the main villains: General Sorin and Dengar. A general bent on hunting the surviving Rebels on Hoth would likely be camped at Echo Base and would probably have a shuttle to steal! And if a general like that were desperate enough to prove themselves to the Empire, they may even hire an elite bounty hunter to help them in their task.

After choosing the mission’s premise, we took stock of the Return to Hoth box expansion’s components. We wanted to use as many of the tiles and figures as possible, and it quickly became clear that if we were going to visit Echo Base and encounter Wampas in this campaign, the second mission was our best chance!

With a hazy feel for what the mission might contain, we looked at what it needed to accomplish. Over the course of the second mission, the heroes needed to evade Imperial pursuers, encounter Wampas, elude Dengar, infiltrate Echo Base, steal a shuttle from under Sorin’s nose, and escape from Hoth. Noting the Wampa tunnels running beneath the base, the story seemed to write itself!

But now that we knew the story our second mission would tell, how would it go about doing that?

First, we considered how we wanted players to feel as they played the mission. The heroes would be running low on supplies as the Empire closed in around them. They would be chased into the uncharted caves below Echo Base where they would be lost and cold—maybe even a little frustrated, too.

A maze where you can’t even trust the map’s geometry seemed like the perfect way to make players feel as lost as their characters. We theory-crafted a few concepts before deciding to use a maze we knew we could build, along with a few tricks to make it difficult to remember where you’d been. The mission seemed like a perfect embodiment of the vision. And the maze was glorious!

But the mission was not. The heroes spent too much time walking through empty hallways, setting up map sections, fighting minor skirmishes, and freezing to death. On top of that, it was much too long. Some playtesters reported wandering the caves for as many as five hours! Each week we trimmed a little more of the maze, and each week it was still too long. Eventually we accepted that the original vision was too ambitious. Reluctantly, we stripped out everything that we thought defined the mission and sent it back to the testers.

To our surprise and joy, the reports were positive! From our isolated perspective we felt like we’d had to sacrifice our vision. But in reality, players were finally experiencing what we’d set out to create. We had to remember that Imperial Assault is first and foremost a tactical combat game. While the mission’s initial design had strayed too far from this core experience, we could still deliver on the vision.

We were satisfied with the mission’s buildup, but we still needed a satisfying conclusion. Reinvigorated, we got to work building on this stable ground.

Rediscovering a Mission

The longer we work on a mission, or any game project, the more we learn about what it isn’t. We know so much about what isn’t in the mission anymore, that it can be difficult for us to see what the experience really is. Sometimes during playtesting it’s helpful to take a step back, refocus, maybe ask another developer to play your content, and critically analyze what the game is right now.

When we reexamined the second mission, we noticed that it flowed well, but toward a natural conclusion that was, at the time, far too complicated. With fresh eyes, we saw that we were trying to do too much storytelling “on camera.” It was interfering with good mission pacing. With a new sense of what the mission really was, we reconfigured the ending to carry the story with core Imperial Assault mechanics. The front of the mission was already interesting enough to be memorable. Now, we just needed to let the heroes play.

Reimagining the Return to Hoth campaign for the Legends of the Alliance app was a wonderful experience—and it went far beyond these two missions. Each of the six missions in the campaign (five of which you’ll play in a single playthrough) offered its own unique challenges and rewards, and we hope you find the new campaign similarly challenging and rewarding.

Thanks for reading!

Though the Great Clans clash on the battlefield and in the courts, they have one common cause. Each, in their own way, serves the Empire. The Crab may cut a smuggling deal to obtain more jade, but this stone is vital to the protection of the Kaiu Wall. Likewise, no matter how dishonorable the task, a Scorpion can always find solace in their duty to Rokugan. Even the Emperor’s actions are guided by what will be best for the Empire. 

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce For the Empire, the first Dynasty Pack in the Inheritance cycle for Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game!

The Inheritance cycle marks a drastic change in the status quo of Rokugan as the Great Clans continue to battle amongst themselves. With the Emerald Empire becoming more dangerous than ever, iconic samurai must disguise themselves in their travels, only revealing their true identity when they are needed most. Furthermore, Bushi and Courtiers alike are now more valued than ever, fighting for their clans as Rokugan shifts around them.

While the Imperial and Elemental cycles were released over the course of six weeks, the Inheritance cycle will be released on a one pack-per month basis, providing a steady stream of new cards for Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game! 

As an added bonus, if you pre-order For the Empire from the Fantasy Flight Games website, you also gain access to three exclusive art cards featured in the pack!  These cards feature no text, allowing you to enjoy the full art from Robin Wouters, Leo Avero, and Pavel Kolomeyets!

More than Meets the Eye

In these dangerous times, a samurai must sometimes hide their true identity in order to best serve their clan and the empire. For the Empire introduces a brand-new mechanic that sees unique characters enter conflicts disguised as other samurai before revealing their true skill and abilities at the most opportune time. These samurai bear the new disguised keyword, followed by a trait or clan affiliation—for example, 

Akodo Zentarō

(For the Empire, 9) has the disguised keyword followed by the Bushi trait. These disguised characters can be played normally, but they also have a unique way of entering the battlefield from your provinces or from your hand.

If you choose to, you can unveil your disgusied character by choosing any non-unique character that matches the restrictions listed on the disguised character. So, in the case of Akodo Zentarō, you could choose any non-unique Bushi that you control. You’ll reduce the cost to play the disguised character from your province or your hand by the printed cost of the chosen character, and when you play the disguised character, you’ll move all attachments and tokens (including fate tokens and status tokens) from the chosen character to the disguised character. Finally, you’ll discard the chosen character from play—they have revealed themselves to be the disguised samurai!

Importantly, your disguised samurai can’t have additional fate put on them when they’re played in this way! Thematically, they are the same samurai that has been in the conflict all along, only with their true identity revealed. Even if they are a dynasty card like Akodo Zentarō, you can use the disguised keyword any time you could play a character from your hand during the conflict phase, and they will always enter the field unbowed.  

Using the disguised keyword, you may discard an Ikoma Reservist to play Akodo Zentarō. In this scenario, the Reservist’s Fine Katana and two fate are placed on Akodo Zentarō, and the cost of playing Zentarō is reduced by one—the fate cost of the Ikoma Reservist! 

Disguised characters have abilities that can drastically change the face of the game, and with Akodo Zentarō able to steal a holding from an attacked province, you can turn the tables on anyone who dares stand up to the might of the Lion. 

Bloodied Blades

While Courtiers do the work of their clan in the glamorous courts of the Emerald Empire, Bushi serve their clans in the blood and dirt of the battlefield. Glorious tacticians, skilled duelists, cavalier commanders, and even the crown prince himself are represented throughout the Inheritance cycle, their boldness and skill overwhelming their foes in military

conflicts.

The Crab need these Bushi to defend Rokugan from the horrors to the south—should these samurai fail to hold the Kaiu Wall, the Emerald Empire would fall to corruption and rot. The

Fifth Tower Watch

(For the Empire, 5) understand the sacrifices that must be made to prevent Rokugan from falling to this terrible fate. When you sacrifice a character with Fifth Tower Watch on the field, your opponent must bow one of their characters with a lower military skill than the sacrificed character. With this and other effects, every sacrificed character serves an even greater purpose, and this ability is emblematic of one of the Crab’s major themes in the Inheritance cycle: sacrifice. While the Elemental cycle saw the Crab tempted by the power of mahō, the Inheritance cycle examines the human cost of defending the wall, and the strength this gives Rokugan’s most stalwart clan.

Even the Phoenix, known for their focus on Shugenja and pacifism, train Bushi to defend the clan when military conflicts are inevitable. The

Shiba Sophist

(For the Empire, 10) is a two-cost Bushi that lets you search your conflict deck for cards that share a Trait with the element of the contested ring. Not only is the Shiba Sophist a great way to enhance your hand of conflict cards, the Bushi trait itself is a valuable asset in the Inheritance cycle.

For example, the Shiba Sophist is a viable target for

Purity of Spirit

(For the Empire, 19), a new event that allows you to honor a Bushi for the duration of a conflict. While this honored status does not last, it can be the jump you need to break a province, especially when combined with the massive glory of a card like the

Serene Warrior

 (Core Set, 88). At one influence, Purity of Spirit is also an attractive splash for the Lion Clan, a clan known for their

prolific Bushi, who can also take advantage of

A Perfect Cut

 (For the Empire, 22) to emerge victorious in the battlefield.

The honor of a Bushi is essential to victory, and none are as honorable or glorious as those hailing from the Hantei dynasty. Favored by Heaven, this long line of Emperors has held Rokugan together for centuries. For the Empire sees the Crown Prince, 

Hantei Sotorii

 (For the Empire, 13) himself, grace us with his presence. With the ability to boost the glory of any character participating in a conflict, Sotorii can pump your own honored characters or shame your opponent’s characters who have fallen into the pit of dishonor. The pure presence of Hantei Sotorii is enough to mold the shape of battle, and his skill in a conflict is just as impressive. However, allies of Sotorii must beware—the crown prince is prone to fits of rage, and the pride keyword could be his downfall should he experience defeat. 

A Line in the Sand

With battles breaking out across Rokugan, Bushi are more important than ever. As battle lines between clans are drawn, it will be these samurai who help determine the fate of their clan. Will you stand alongside these warriors in the conflicts to come?

The Inheritance cycle begins with For the Empire (L5C19), available now for pre-order from your local retailer or our website! 

Take a look at the latest products from Fantasy Flight Games, now available at your local retailer or online through our webstore! 

Children of the Empire

Further explore Rokugan with Children of the Empire, a new premium expansion for Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game!

Featuring a total of 234 new cards that celebrates the era of tranquility brought upon Rokugan by the Hantei Dynasty. Every Great Clan gets new tools, with themes of dueling and honor persistent throughout the expansion.

Children of the Empire also provides a snapshot of characters and events in the Legend of the Five Rings story as they are today. Look for cards that represent some of the biggest moments from Legend of the Five Rings fiction, and an updated version of an iconic character whose role in the celestial order has shifted.

Pick up your copy of Children of the Empire (L5C16) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

First Order Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit

With the First Order poised to usher in a new era of galactic dominance, it’s time to display your loyalty. With the First Order Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit, you can move out of the Empire’s shadow and further customize your X-Wing™  squadron.

These upgraded plastic maneuver dials signal your allegiance to the First Order while enhancing the aesthetic look of your squadron. As you secretly plot your maneuvers each round, these kits house a ship’s dial within a secure plastic housing. Additionally, the kits include a space on the back to insert a dial ID token, making it easy to differentiate between your ships in the middle of a game. 

Pick up your copy of the First Order Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit (SWZ20) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Resistance Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit

Carry on the spark of the Rebellion and signal your dedication to protect freedom throughout the galaxy with the Resistance Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit!

During every game of X-Wing, you and your opponent will secretly plot your ships’ movements on cardboard maneuver dials. The dial upgrade kit contains three plastic protectors that situate a ship’s dial within a secure housing, enhancing the aesthetics of your squadron and proudly displaying the colors of the Resistance. Not only does each dial clearly indicate that you fight for the freedom of the galaxy, they also include a space on the back to insert a dial ID token displaying a silhouette of the corresponding ship, making it easy to differentiate between your ships.

Pick up your copy of the Resistance Maneuver Dial Upgrade Kit (SWZ21) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

The scholars of Rokugan generally agree that, at one time, what is now the Shadowlands was much like any other part of the Mortal Realm. That is the case no longer. As corruption and decay permeate the very elements south of the Kaiu Wall, few samurai understand the horrors that lurk in the shadows. Though rot spreads through the south like a katana through flesh, every location offers its own unique horrors, tormenting samurai who find themselves entangled in the Shadowlands.

Shadowlands is a 144-page sourcebook for Legends of the Five Rings Roleplaying that covers everything from terrifying new enemies to exciting new player options. Today, we are going to examine the harrowing locations found in the first chapter of the sourcebook. Each profile features a history of the location, adventure hooks, rumors, NPCs and more!

As a special bonus for pre-ordering Shadowlands through our website, you’ll also a receive a bookmark and eight 5″ x 7″ art prints showcasing Legend of the Five Rings art. This bookmark is the perfect way to mark important sections of the sourcebook such as charts or NPC information. Meanwhile, the art prints represent beautiful moments and characters from the Shadowlands sourcebook and the Mask of the Oni adventure!

The False Lantern Grove

The False Lantern Grove is an apparent oasis of spiritual purity in these fell lands. The sorcery of its keeper allows it to masquerade as a shrine kept safe by the kami during the night, when the inviting glow of its paper lanterns draws in the foolish and the desperate. Under the blessed light of Lady Sun, however, its truth is revealed: the “lanterns” are the hanging skulls of those who have fallen victim to the oni who dwells within.

The False Lantern Grove cannot be seen in its entirety at any one time, for it appears differently by the light of the sun and of the moon. At night, without the blessed illumination of Lady Sun to cast away illusions, it appears as a thicket full of beautifully blossoming trees. A visitor who happens across the grove by day sees a much different sight. Under the revelations of sunlight, the trees are shown to be withered and dead, blackened with rot and the Shadowlands Taint. Hanging from their decrepit branches are not lanterns, but skulls. Out of their eye sockets, the skulls cast light from candles that burn with an unnatural flame.

Those players who find themselves lost in the Shadowlands may seek security in the warm glow of lanterns, but perceptive samurai understand nothing is ever what it seems in the southern depths of the Shadowlands. 

The Festering Pit of Fu Leng

Although the geography of the Shadowlands is fluid and mutable, it can nevertheless be said to have a center. The dark heart of this terrible realm is the Festering Pit of Fu Leng, the ancient site where the fall of the Dark Kami tore a hole in the mortal world and opened a doorway into the hellish realm of Jigoku. It is from the Festering Pit that the malevolent power of the Shadowlands originates, flowing into the mortal world in waves of corruption. While the Shadowlands Taint spreads in many ways, it is the Festering Pit that is its ultimate and original source.

Near the Festering Pit, the power of the Taint intensifies, oni wander freely, and even the blessed protection of jade falters—to approach the Pit is to approach Jigoku itself. As terrible and malign as the Shadowlands are as a whole, there is nowhere in all of Ningen-dō as terrible as the environment around Fu Leng’s descent. On the rare occasions the Crab have cause to send scouts near the Pit, they do not expect them to return, hoping only that they will accomplish whatever urgent mission draws them forth before succumbing to the Taint. The rare few who do return become some of the Crab Clan’s most venerated heroes—assuming the Kuni find them to be who and what they claim to be.

Players have little reason to risk coming in contact with the Pit, but those courageous enough to venture to this cursed location will never be the same.  

The Forgotten Tomb of Fu Leng

Deep within the Shadowlands lies an utterly inhuman building. The architecture of this ancient structure is alien, with impossible angles no mortal can fully comprehend. Its purpose is infuriatingly unclear. Its aura of doom and decay has given rise to the belief that it is a tomb, but no one has found evidence or written records to prove anyone is buried there. Some legends hold that the Black Scrolls contain the sundered body of Fu Leng—his bones, his breath, his skin, his eyes, and other animating parts. Theologians have long argued over whether the Fallen Kami’s soul was banished back to Jigoku, split among the scrolls, or trapped in Ningen-dō, the Mortal Realm. What the Tomb actually contains is a haunting question with no comforting answers, for evil creatures throng about it and no mortal has returned from it sane.

Once in known history, scouts attempted to claim the Tomb in hopes of using it as a stronghold deep in the Shadowlands. Under Hiruma Kosami, a legendary Crab renowned for his bold tactics and dauntless leadership, twelve brave Hiruma scouts entered the Tomb to drive out whatever evil lurked there. They were never seen again, and the Crab have avoided it since. Now only a desperate or ignorant samurai would attempt to take refuge from the dangers of the Shadowlands in such a place.

No one can say for sure what awaits those who venture into this long-forgotten tomb, but it is unlikely to be a pleasant experience. 

Throughout the Land

The corruption prevalent throughout the Shadowlands takes on many different forms. Every location is dangerous, luring samurai of Rokugan to a fate worse than death. Will you brave these tainted lands as a samurai of Rokugan, and survive with your soul intact?

Explore Fu Leng’s domain with Shadowlands (L5R06) available now for pre-order from your local retailer or our website!

Through the past several weeks, we’ve gotten a look at the thought process of Emperor Hantei XXXVIII and his son, Hantei Daisetsu, as an explosive situation played out between the crown

princes. But every conflict cannot be viewed from just one angle, and the Emperor’s eldest son has his own perspective on events.

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to present “Children of the Empire Part III” by D.G. Laderoute, a new short story set in the world of Legend of the Five Rings!

This story completes the “Children of the Empire” short story trilogy and can be downloaded here (6.2 MB). For the full context of this tale, be sure to read the first two parts of the story, “Children of the Empire Part I” and “Children of the Empire Part II”.

A Different Point of View

Keep your eyes on the Fantasy Flight Games website for more fiction set in the world of Rokugan, information on Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game and Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying! Also, be sure to pick up your own copy of the Children of the Empire premium expansion when it releases tomorrow!

“See, Momo? I told you it wouldn’t take long.”
   –Doc Bookton

In 2018, legendary designer Richard Garfield introduced the world to KeyForge—a game where every deck is as unique as the player who wields it, coming pre-built and ready-to-play. Wits and tactical prowess win the day in a fast-paced game of cosmic competition where death is temporary, but glory is forever. 

Along with this groundbreaking design came a lush, endlessly diverse world to call home. The Crucible, an artificial planet filled with secrets known only to the Architects, acts as the perfect setting for the world’s first Unique Deck Game, as the pieces of countless worlds gather to change the landscape every day to create something new and incredible. Now, you are invited to journey deeper into Crucible as your quest to unlock the power of this planet and ascend to a new plane continues. 

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Age of Ascension, the second set of KeyForge—now available for pre-order at your local retailer!

A New Dawn Rises

Become a new Archon in Age of Ascension! As a new set of KeyForge, Age of Ascension mixes up the cardpool with 204 brand-new cards, joining 166 cards first introduced in Call of the Archons to create an entirely new pool of 370 cards and billions upon billions more Unique Decks for you to discover, learn, and master.

Importantly, Age of Ascension is a companion to Call of the Archons, not a replacement or a sequel! You don’t need to start with Call of the Archons in order to reach Age of Ascension, and you don’t need to switch to Age of Ascension Archon Decks in order to remain competitive. Archon Decks from each set are equally matched against one another, which makes Age of Ascension an invitation to embrace even more of the spirit of exploration and discovery that makes KeyForge unique.

This new set further explores the gameplay of KeyForge with new keywords, restricting when certain cards can be played or freeing others from the constraints of standard placement. For example, the Brobnar are well known for their love of battle and their eagerness to land the first strike. Age of Ascension offers a new tactic for the House with cards like

First Blood

(Call of Ascension, 7) that feature the Alpha keyword, meaning that they can only be played as your first action during a turn. If you can establish a solid battleline, filled with the greatest Brobnar warriors, First Blood lets you open your next turn with a devastating alpha strike.

On the other end of the spectrum, the darkest creatures of the Crucible gain the power of Omega. The varied beings of Untamed can call upon a

Duskwitch

(Age of Ascension, 320), while the demons of Dis can make use of an

Unlocked Gateway

(Age of Ascension, 67) to destroy each creature—but the Omega keyword guarantees that this card must be the last card you play on your turn. While this gateway does not force you to take chains like

Gateway to Dis

(Call of the Archons, 59), this destructive power still comes at the cost of an opportunity, preventing you from playing any creatures unless you are willing to sacrifice them.

Finally, the new Deploy keyword mixes up your ordinary approach to building your battleline. Rather than building outward from the edges, a creature with Deploy can enter play anywhere in your battleline! You will find this keyword on only the quickest, like

Lamindra

(Age of Ascension, 272), and the most skilled warriors of the Crucible—those who can create order even in the middle of a chaotic clash between rival Archons.

“Lion” Bautrem

(Age of Ascension, 211) of House Sanctum grants power to his neighbors. With the ability to place him anywhere in your battleline, you have the freedom to select your most valuable creatures and bolster them, perhaps keeping a creature holding captured Æmber alive for a little longer, or granting one of your warriors the strength to destroy a particularly troublesome opponent. With these new keywords adding to the depth of the Crucible and the games that you play, you’ll be able to further develop your personal playstyle and discover brand-new decks that can reach their full potential in your hands.

The previously unseen cards of Age of Ascension are seamlessly mixed with 166 favorite cards from Call of the Archons to create new synergies and allow you to rediscover familiar cards in a fresh light. Cards that appear in both sets, such as the

Witch of the Wilds

(Age of Ascension, 369), have different card numbers from 

 (Call of the Archons, 347), but all other text and abilities remain the same. Additionally, while the new card pool does feature the return of favorite cards, you will never find an Age of Ascension deck with only cards that originally appeared in Call of the Archons. In every deck you open, you are guaranteed to see new faces like House Mars’s monstrous 

Xanthyx Harvester

(Age of Ascension, 173), and perhaps even meet some new allies who give you a sense of déjà vu, like

Archimedes

(Age of Ascension, 108), who keen-eyed players may recognize as the loyal companion of Quixo the Adventurer.

Even cards that do not carry over from Call of the Archons to Age of Ascension have the chance to make an appearance as new Legacy cards. Like the player-favorite Mavericks (which continue to appear in Age of Ascension), Legacy cards are plucked from their normal settings and placed in new situations to unlock even stranger synergies. In KeyForge, any card that has existed in any previous set can be pulled forward to become a Legacy card included in a current Archon Deck. For instance, even though

Quixo the “Adventurer”

(Call of the Archons, 144) is not included in the Age of Ascension cardpool, he still has a chance of appearing in your Age of Ascension decks as a Legacy card. A new age is about to begin and no one on the Crucible is willing to be left behind.

The Power in Your Hands

Beyond the cards themselves, you may notice other subtle differences in Age of Ascension, highlighted in the set’s new starter. The KeyForge: Age of Ascension Two-Player Starter Set features all the tools you need to either begin or expand your adventures on the Crucible, including two unique Age of Ascension Archon Decks, a Quickstart Rulebook, two paper poster playmats for easily organizing your play area, and all the keys, tokens, and chain trackers you and your opponent need to start playing.

Unlike the Call of the Archons Starter Set, this set does not include two standardized learning decks, and you’ll also discover that stun and increased power are now marked by tokens rather than status cards. Both the Call of the Archons Starter Set and the Age of Ascension Two-Player Starter Set provide excellent points of entry for new players, and as the game continues to grow, the power is with you to choose the option that’s right for you. 

Once the Age of Ascension set lands at retailers in the second quarter of 2019, you’ll be able to track your Archon Decks from both Call of the Archons and Age of Ascension in the Master Vault at KeyForgeGame.com. Here, you can track your decks and see how they fit into the meta at large, follow the performance of other Archons across the Crucible, and stay updated on tournaments and events from Fantasy Flight Games Organized Play. As KeyForge continues to evolve, so too will the Master Vault, so keep an eye out for what secrets are emerging!

A Softer Side

Each of the seven Houses first introduced in Call of the Archons gain new allies and tools in the Age of Ascension—and some of the most lively characters and deafening machines are found in the renewed ranks of House Brobnar. Hailing from snow-capped mountains inaccessible to all but the hardiest creatures of the Crucible, this House is known for their love of a good fight and anything that creates noise and destruction. But not all in their ranks share this desire for destruction. For example,

Culf the Quiet

(Age of Ascension, 20) wishes for nothing more than to be left in peace, borrowing the Elusive keyword from his fellow goblins in the House to avoid confrontation. But as a giant, Culf still possesses six power if you call him to battle, more than any other elusive creature currently in the game!

As the world of the Crucible continues to grow, you will encounter new and wondrous species in every corner of this growing planet. Among the ranks of House Brobnar, we have seen goblins, humans, and giants. But there are beings, old as the mountains themselves (or potentially even older) that dwarf even the grandest giants.

Lollop the Titanic

(Age of Ascension, 14) is one such creature. As a grand titan, Lollop can withstand the blows of an entire enemy team with his incredible eleven power, even if he doesn’t deal any damage when he is attacked. 

One may not think it when first looking at these intimidating warriors, but the members of House Brobnar are quite fond of pets, and in true Brobnar style, their favorite animals are those who create lots of noise and destruction, such as the Grumpus. These creatures are half wolf, half rhino, half tank, and all grumpy. Only the strong-willed Brobnar would look at these beasts and think they could be tamed. But giants like the

Grumpus Tamer

(Age of Ascension, 39) have domesticated them… kind of. Now, this House can use their beloved monsters to pull vehicles like the

Grump Buggy

(Age of Ascension, 24), which can bring your opponent’s progress to a standstill if your team possesses the power needed to control the wild beast. But perhaps they are at their most effective when the Brobnar simply aim a

War Grumpus

(Age of Ascension, 52) in the direction of their enemies and let it loose. There may be a whole new world to discover about House Brobnar, but they will always be the proud brawlers players fell in love with from their first appearance on the Crucible. They’re just a bit more… grumpy.

Return to the Stars

The world of the Crucible is vast—what will you uncover in your journeys? Are you ready to seek the knowledge of a new age? Let your curiosity lead you to new discoveries and step into the Age of Ascension!

Look for the Age of Ascension to begin in the second quarter of 2019! Be sure to pre-order your copy of the KeyForge: Age of Ascension Two-Player Starter Set (KF04) and your collection of KeyForge: Age of Ascension Archon Decks (KF03a) at your local retailer today!

“What the priests had believed was an angry kami was, in reality, two spirits locked in battle over the shrine. A battle of invisible wills, raking the walls, breaking the rafters, primordial forces locked in stormy opposition.”
     –Robert Denton III, Outsiders

As a Living Card Game®, Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game is always changing and evolving. New cards change the ways that players experience the game’s central conflicts and the ways they view its Great Clans.

And while this growth and change is to be expected of every LCG with a dynamic card pool, Legend of the Five Rings takes the idea of change—or, more precisely, of impermanence—and pushes it even farther. Characters enter play with a limited lifespan—fated to leave within a few rounds. Even the rules for deckbuilding and the identities of the Great Clans shift with time—and with the selection of each clan’s elemental roles.

Now that the first period of Elemental Championships is underway, players all around the world find themselves intricately involved in decisions that will shape their clans’ futures. It’s an exciting idea—one that offers Legend of the Five Rings players a unique role in the development of their favorite game—and guest writer Tobin Lopes shares his thoughts about why these roles and the selection of them are so important to not only the Organized Play, but also the casual experience of Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game!

Tobin Lopes on the Elemental Roles in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game

Since their introduction to Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game, the ten possible elemental roles have spurred many passionate discussions and deliberations among the player community.

Few of those discussions echoed more loudly than the ones that emerged from the first role selections at the Kiku Matsuri and that eventually led to the stunning betrayal by a Hatamoto who abandoned his clan—and his Hatamoto status—to play as Scorpion at the Winter Court World Championship, hoping to place high enough to steer the Scorpion Clan away from a potentially overpowered combo.

With drama like that emerging at the Winter Court World Championship as the result of role selection, it’s clear that the Role System has already led to a great deal of community involvement in its brief existence—and this will only get more dynamic, interesting, and engaging in the coming years.

As we are now in the middle of the first period of Elemental Championships, we have reason to explore how role selection will become an even greater part of the game and make even more of a mark upon the people who play it.

Dynamic History

Since the game’s release, players have debated which roles their clans should choose, as well as how to go about making those choices.

• The Kiku Matsuri selections were largely about choosing a strong—but not optimal role—in order to get a stronger one at the 2017 Winter Court World Championship.
• Throughout the Toshi Ranbo Kotei Series, players debated whether their role selection should be based on available provinces or the other cards a given role would make available to the clan.
• Although the role choices the clans made at the 2017 Winter Court World Championship resulted in many of the clans gaining an even stronger role, the clans had more mixed results in the Toshi Ranbo Kotei season, largely because it used a unique process through which the clans would pick a second role collectively. Unicorn was probably the biggest beneficiary—getting Keeper of Fire. The Crab, however, got Seeker of Earth—a choice that many Crab were disappointed with. As a result, most players, with the exception of Unicorn players, played with their Winter Court 2017 roles at the 2018 Winter Court World Championship.

Because their elemental roles literally alter their card pools, the clans are deeply invested in determining which roles work best for them. And the newest selections from the 2018 Winter Court World Championship are now carrying players into the first period of Elemental Championships, which will determine the Great Glans’ newest roles, and their selection will provide great fodder for conversation and community engagement.

Dynamic Future

With its tri-annual role rotation, Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game can now boast the most dynamic play environment ever found in an LCG. The metagame changes with the addition of new products, with the rotation of elemental roles, and with the changes those elemental roles place on the respective values of the new products to each of the Great Clans.

Not only will the new elemental roles shift how the clans play, but the 2019 releases of Children of the Empire and five new Clan Packs will mean that some roles which are strong now may become weaker, and roles currently viewed as weaker will become stronger—and all of this varying from clan to clan.

Taken altogether, this means Legend of the Five Rings players will be playing and deckbuilding in a meta that constantly opens new doors while others close.

The Elemental Championships and the Ever-changing Meta

Choosing roles through the two seasons of the Elemental Championships should lead to exciting times for everyone involved in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game Organized Play.

In contrast to the role selection at the Winter Court World Championship, which bestows great honor on each clan’s top samurai, the role selection process for the Elemental Championships relies on clan communities communicating about the best way forward for their individual clans. There are far more Elemental Championships, far more samurai earning votes, and far more votes to cast.

The role selection process for the Elemental Championships also ensures that clans won’t be able to retain their outgoing role—although, interestingly, it does allow for multiple clans to share the same roles. However, this process ensures that anytime a clan greatly favors one role, they will be forced to adjust once that role becomes unavailable.

But that’s where the fun is… because with more cards coming—and more chances for clans to use their elemental roles to access new cards—we will see a constantly shifting meta. And I predict that—in order to prepare themselves for the Great Unknown Shifting Meta—each of the Great Clans will look for access to both a Seeker and Keeper Role at any one time.

With an Unknown Future, Excitement Is Coming

With the changes to their elemental roles, players and clans are going to have to stay on their toes. Strategies and card combinations which are popular or powerful in February may not be either in May. And as new cards emerge that play off the different roles, the importance of each clan’s role selection is only going to increase.

There’s going to be so many exciting new possibilities that I believe players will alter decks and experiment with different themes and—yes, I’m saying it—different clans! All this makes for dynamic, diverse, and exciting games, both casually and in Organized Play.

As I see it, the next year of Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game will be an exciting one, and I think that all these new beats of change make Legend of the Five Rings the strongest iteration to-date of the Living Card Game moniker.

Bring Strength and Honor to Your Clan

As Tobin suggests, the votes that players are casting during the current period of Elemental Championships will soon play a massive part in shaping the game for months to come. But as he also notes, you, too, can play your part in this critical moment.

Find an Elemental Championship near you, and make your plans to attend. The Top 2 samurai from each clan will get to vote for both an Element and a Role, and even if you don’t find yourself among the Top 2, you might be able to persuade your clan’s representatives to see things your way and cast their votes as you would have them.

What cards do you want to play with? What do you expect the future may hold for your clan, your element, and your role? Now’s the time to play—and to bring strength and honor to your clan!

“We’re on your tail, General Kenobi.”
   –“Odd Ball,” Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Even with the power of the Force on their side, the Jedi cannot hope to take on the Separatist Alliance’s swarms of interlinked droid starfighters alone. Fortunately, the Galactic Republic has turned to a massive army of clone troopers in this time of crisis to support the Jedi in their efforts to preserve the Republic. Working in unison, Jedi and clone troopers play off each other’s strengths to become a lethal combination capable of bringing down the most dangerous droids.

While every clone trooper may be built from the genetic template of the bounty hunter Jango Fett and all Jedi share a connection to the Force, this does not mean they are all uniform in their approach to combat. In fact, skilled clone pilots can be deployed to the space battles of X-Wing™ in any number of ways, while their Jedi commanders tap into a wide range of powers granted by the Force.

With the Guardians of the Republic Squadron Pack set to introduce the Galactic Republic to the game later in the first quarter of 2019, you’ll soon have to opportunity to create your own combination of Jedi generals and dedicated clone troopers. In addition to its fourteen ship cards—five for the Delta-7 Aethersprite and nine for the V-19 Torrent Starfighter—this Squadron Pack also includes 50 upgrade cards, giving you all the tools you need to customize your Galactic Republic squadrons.

On top of providing reprints of many neutral upgrades that you’ll need to fully equip your squadrons, this Squadron Pack also contains several upgrade cards that can be used exclusively by the Galactic Republic and its starfighters. Join us today as we examine how these upgrade cards define the Galactic Republic and its approach to the space combat of X-Wing.

Stand Together

The Separatist Alliance may have the technological edge in the escalating Clone Wars, but no amount of droid starfighters can hope to match the dedication of those who fly for the Galactic Republic. Each battle, the cool calculations of the Separatist’s droids is matched by the Republic pilots’ belief in their common cause and both Jedi and clone pilots work together to defend the Republic from those who would tear it apart.   

Often flying into battle in tight formation, the Republic’s clone troopers remain

Dedicated

to their squadmates, refusing to leave their wingmen even if it puts them at a disadvantage. This talent helps non-limited ships like the

Blue Squadron Protector

 to live up to their name, gaining a strain token so that a friendly ship can reroll one of their blank defense results.

With Plo Koon taking fire, the Blue Squadron Protector gains a strain token, allowing Plo Koon to reroll his blank result!

Better yet, this upgrade supports two distinctly different forms of squad-building. On the one hand, Dedicated pilots can help valuable limited ships stay in the fight for longer. But pilots with the Dedicated upgrade also help each other gain defensive rerolls, giving you the chance to build a large squadron of non-limited ships that can be particularly hard to damage.

Already proficient defensively, a squadron of V-19 Torrents could similarly enhance its offense by equipping a set of

Synchronized Consoles.

 With one of these modifications, a ship can spend a lock on the defender after performing an attack for a different friendly ship to acquire a lock on the defender. When timed correctly, Synchronized Consoles give clone troopers even more chances to launch a deadly cascade of missiles or punch through just a little more damage.

Obi-Wan Kenobi uses his Battle Meditation ability to coordinate with both Gold Squadron Troopers, letting them acquire locks on Captain Sear!

Similarly, the Jedi recognize how important each and every ship is to accomplishing their mission. In our article on the pilots included in the Guardians of the Republic Squadron Pack, we already discussed how their Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighters have the built-in ability to evade after spending a Force charge. With the

Battle Meditation

upgrade, the Jedi can add a purple coordinate action to their repertoire. Unlike the standard coordinate action, however, the Force charge spent for this action can be used to coordinate two friendly non-limited ships of the same type, potentially letting a Jedi and two

Gold Squadron Troopers

work together to set up a devastating attack run.

When they’re not working alongside clone pilots, the Jedi will likely be using the Delta-7’s high maneuverability to zip around the engagement area and stay one step ahead of their opponents. They can make this even easier by equipping their fighters with some handy astromech droids. With a simple

R4-P Astromech

on board, for example, they have two chances throughout a game to reduce the difficulty of a basic maneuver, helping them clear stress while still making aggressive moves. Alternatively,

R4-P17

lets them be even more aggressive and perform actions after fully executing a red maneuver, even while stressed.

Mace Windu executes a Segnor’s Loop and then uses R4-P17 to perform a boost and close in on the Vulture-class droid fighter!

Using an astromech for navigation has obvious advantages, but these droids can only be relied on for so long, and they won’t help you avoid incoming missiles or torpedoes. To make up for this, a ship can be outfitted with some

Spare Parts Canisters.

 These parts could be used to recover a charge on a ship’s astromech or to put some debris between a ship and its pursuers, breaking all locks assigned to it. Either way, this modification can make a crucial difference when used at the right moment.

In fact, some Spare Parts Canisters may be especially useful for Jedi pilots looking for a little more firepower and durability. If they opt for the heavier

Delta-7B

configuration, their fighters gain two shields and an increased attack value, making them even more formidable. These enhancements do come at the cost of some maneuverability, though, making a cloud of spare parts an invaluable defensive tool. 

Fight As One

The Jedi Knights and clone troopers protecting the Galactic Republic must band together and work as one if they hope to stand against the insurgent Separatist Alliance. When outfitted with upgrades that enhance their natural abilities, nothing can stand in their way. 

The Guardians of the Republic Squadron Pack (SWZ32) is releasing alongside the rest of Wave III in the first quarter of 2019. Pre-order your copy at your local retailer or online through our website today!