July 2024 Updates:
New artist, CRI errata for GenCon

Hello all!

First, we have something exciting. Jonny Hinkle, one of our great community members and the talented artist who provided the piece for Fall of Thunder and who will be featured on several of our cards in Gates of Tengoku, has offered up a piece for our new Master of Earth, Isawa Kosea. We are beyond excited for this, and it is already available in our Errata and Updates folder for July.

GenCon is fast approaching, and we're getting everything organized for our first live event. We've got a couple of changes to CRI, the last changes before the event, barring anything unforseen happening, and we want them out in time for players to adjust their plans appropriately. There are other updates planned post-GenCon, but we felt the need to prioritize these two in particular. One is to curtail an interaction that was unintended, and the other to correct a card to intent.

First up, Caravansary. The main issue here has to do with something we call "Pointless Interrupts". This is mostly a consequence of the decision in Ivory Edition to backburner Reactions in favor of Interrupts and Responses. This allows for situations where you can use things like the Rulebook Courage effect on any action you take, even ones that have nothing to do with Fear, such as Recruiting cards or, well, anything. This allows for acceleration of Caravansary in ways we weren't comfortable with. Addressing some of the issues with Interrupts/Responses, which, ironically, were originally developed by AEG in anticipation of the eventual creation of a digital L5R program a la Magic Arena, is something we plan to tackle in our next base set, Three Dynasties.

Up next is infamous Crane Clan pretty boy Kakita Tatewaki. The issue here is that he was designed and tested with the intent that you would gain no benefits from winning the duel. This was meant to include any penalties your opponent would suffer from losing the duel, as well. This included ignoring any Focus Effects, such as Like a Twig, that modify the effects of winning or losing the duel. He was also meant not to gain benefits from effects like Genshin Sensei. However, this wasn't how he ended up being printed.

While we have still generally flagged Tatewaki as a card to watch, power-level wise, we feel the card should function in the environment, as intended, before we make any calls there. Currently he's operating essentially without one of his biggest penalties, and that requires correction.

We appreciate your patience with these matters. Correction is never an easy step to take, but it is often a necessary one, and we're committed to ensuring the best play experience for our community that we can.

In other GenCon news, the second of our "pre-GenCon" fictions is planned to go live tomorrow. This one will deal with Yoritomo Minoko, the second of the three options our GenCon event is offering to determine who will shape the future of the fractured Mantis Clan. Unfortunately for both Minoko and all of you, this one is written by me, and I apologize to both her and everyone else in advance for that.

Finally, in Gates of Tengoku news, playtest continues. The decision to postpone this release until after GenCon has proven to be a better one than we hoped, as many artists continue to volunteer their time and talents to helping us make it the best set we can. Tentatively we are anticipating this set going to previews in mid-September. If you wish to add to this community process, there is still plenty of time. Feel free to reach out to us on our Discord, or by emailing me at jlsumerlin@gmail.com .

Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing everyone at GenCon 2024, where we hope to raise all we can for charity in the name of this great game and its even greater spirit of community.