Design Diaries: Secrets on the Wind(s)

Hello All!

Though it’s still a far bit off, we’ve got some announcements coming soon that make it an ideal time to roll out a “new” addition to the next Onyx Edition set: the return of Winds! Rise of Otosan Uchi will detail the desperate final days leading to the fall of the Iweko Dynasty and its aftermath. As Kanpeki takes the throne and the Empire fractures, three centers of authority and power begin to emerge.

Mechanics of Winds in Onyx Edition

Winds in Onyx Edition function very much like their predecessors, though there are some important differences. Like Sensei, they are ‘Starting Cards’, not entering play, but being revealed. You may opt to have a Wind, or no Wind. Winds do not have Clan Alignments, and are available to all Clans equally. This is generally no different than how the Winds worked back in older editions.

One change from the old way Winds worked, however, is that if your Wind has a Lobby action (such as “Lobby Open: Bow your target dishonorable Samurai to take (FAVOR)”), it does NOT replaces the Rulebook Lobby action for you, meaning, in this example, you would be able to use the traditional Rulebook Lobby method, or this alternate method. However, you may still only take one Lobby action per turn.

If your Wind has one or more Favor actions (such as “Open, (FAVOR): Draw a card”), they DO replace the Rulebook Favor actions. In the example given, you would no longer have any of the Rulebook Favor actions available to you, and would instead use what was printed on the Wind. This can result in situations where you might have fewer or more favor options than what is standard, depending on what the Wind does.

Of course, you can always opt not to use a Wind at all. Those who choose to have no Wind, then, still retain the traditional Rulebook Lobby and Favor abilities. We’re also building support for ‘neutral’, non-Wind approaches to deckbuilding as well, to make this a viable path to explore.

These three Winds: Kano’s Alliance, The House of Suikihime, and The Kanpeki Dynasty, each represent competing alliances that have formed during and immediately after the main events of the expansion, and give a glimpse of the shape of future conflicts within the Emerald Empire beyond Onyx Edition. We will go into each of these Winds in more detail individually at a later date.

PLEASE PARDON OUR DUST

This article originally appeared on Facebook as a work-in-progress description of changes made during our initial Onyx Lives! design phases. The information in it may be outdated, but it is presented here as part of an ongoing attempt to consolidate all of the various public writings we have made along the way.