Legend of the Five Rings
BGG Geek Rating
6.2
based on 1,726 ratings
BGG Average Rating
7.2
community average
BGG Ranking
#2272
all board games
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Players
2-8
Weight
3.29/5.00
Playtime
45 min
Age
12+
⚙️ Game Mechanics
How this game works - core systems and player actions
📂 Categories
🎨 Artists
Aaron Acevedo
Adam Bray
Adam Denton
Alayna Lemmer-Danner
Alberto Tavira
Ancor Hernandez
Andrew Hepworth
Angga Satriohadi
Anson Maddocks
Anthony Grabski
April Lee
Audrey Corman
Ben Peck
Beth Trott
Bob E. Hobbs
Bob Stevlic
Bonnie Hill
Brad Williams
Bradley McDevitt
Brandon Leach
Brent Chumley
Brian Snoddy
Britt Martin
Bryon Wackwitz
Carl Frank
Charles Urbach
Chris Arneson
Chris Pritchard
Chris Seaman
Christina Wald
Chuck Lukacs
Cline Seigenthaler
Corene Werhane
Craig Maher
Cristina McAllister
Daniel Gelon
Dave Kendall
David Bollt
David Fooden
David Horne
David Trowbridge
Diana Vick
Doug Kovacs
Doug Shuler
Drew Baker
Ed Cox
Edward Fetterman
Edwin David
Ellym Sirac
Eric David Anderson
Eric Lofgren
Eric Polak
Erich Schreiner
Franz Vohwinkel
Glen Osterberger
Gonzalo Ordoñez
Heather Bruton
Heather Kreiter
Jaime Jones
James Hall
Janine Johnston
Jarreau Wimberly
Jason Engle
Jason Juta
Jeff Himmelman
Jeff Menges
Jeff Reitz
Jesus Barony
Jim Pavelec
Joachim Gmoser
Joe Wilson
John Donahue
John Moriarty
Jonathan Moore
Jose Cua
Julie Baroh
K. C. Lancaster
Kari Christensen
Kevin Daily
Kevin Ward
Kevin Wasden
Leonardo Borazio
Lisa M. Hunt
Lissanne Lake
Liz Danforth
Llyn Hunter
Luke Stelmaszek
Malcolm McClinton
Manuel Calderon
Margaret Organ-Kean
Mario Wibisono
Mark Hyzer
Mark Poole
Mark Tedin
Matt Busch
Matt Wilson (I)
Matthew S. Armstrong
Max Degen
McLean Kendree
Michael Apice
Michael Kaluta
Michael Komarck
Michael Lavoie (I)
Michael Phillippi
Michael Williams
Miguel Coimbra
Mike Capprotti
Mike Raabe
Monika Livingstone
Monte Moore
Nate Barnes
Nicola Leonard
Noah Bradley
Ozan Art
Patrick McEvoy
Paul Herbert
Pete Garcia
Peter Mohrbacher
Quinton Hoover
Randy Elliott
Randy Gallegos
Randy Liu
Raymond Gaustadnes
Rob Alexander
Robin Wood
Robin Wouters
Ron Spencer
Sandra Garavito
Shane Coppage
Stacy Drum
Stacy Fitz
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
Steve Argyle
Steve Ellis (I)
Steve Ellis (II)
Susan Van Camp
Sławomir Maniak
Ted Galaday
Theodor Black
Thomas Biondiolillo
Thomas Manning
Tony Moseley
Troy Graham
Veronica Jones
William O'Connor
📖 About This Game
A collectible card game, set in a fantasy empire called Rokugan, based loosely upon medieval Japan and Japanese Mythology.
The factions available have changed over the editions, but generally include the 7 Great Clans: Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion, and Unicorn. Each has specific thematic elements, which are consistent across editions and descendant games. The other currently legal factions include the Spider, Mantis, and an unaligned ronin stronghold.
The Rokugan setting has been changed over the years by participation in the storyline tournaments for the L5R CCG.
Legend of the Five Rings is different from other collectible card games due to the concept of Clan loyalty. The Clans of the game are what you build your deck around, and the communities that have built up around the Crane Clan, Lion Clan, etc are the backbone of the game. When you say "I'm a Crab player" you instantly find yourself with hundreds and thousands of clan-mates who are there to help you become a better player. When one member of the Clan wins, all benefit.
L5R was the first CCG to introduce cards that players directly influenced. These are still a core part of the game.
The L5R CCG has spun off a number of related games:
Clan War, a miniatures game.
Diskwars: Legend of the Five Rings, a Rokugan-themed set of the Diskwars tabletop combat game.
Unpublished Prototype, an as-yet unpublished wargame set in Rokugan.
Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game
As of 2006, only the CCG and Clan War have had storyline tournaments. Though the RPG players have been heavily involved in the ongoing plot in recent years.
In 2008, L5R held the first "Mega-Game" which incorporated various methods of competition for the Clans and their supporters, not only in CCG form, but in contests (art, writing, poster-design, etc.), community work (charity, fundraising, food-drives), and more. The Dragon Clan ultimately won the first mega-game, and as such earned the privilege of having the next Empress come from their clan.
In 2009, L5R released its first graphic novel, Death at Koten, which also included exclusive story-themed cards for the CCG.
Also in 2009, L5R released The Imperial Gift the first completely free expansion in CCG history.
In 2010 L5R celebrated its 15th Anniversary with many major events, new prizes, more free cards, and a special flashback set that brought back some of the most popular cards in the history of the game. 2010 also saw the largest World Championships event at Gen Con in the past 7 years.
2011 saw the release of War of Honor, an all new tile-based multiplayer format for L5R that comes with 4 pre-constructed decks.
In september 2015, AEG and Fantasy Flight Games announced that FFG had bought the L5R brand from AEG and will relaunch the card game as a LCG (non-collectible), with significant rules changes and a new design. The game is to go on hiatus following the release of Evil Portents, the final expansion from AEG, and will be relaunched at Gencon 2017. FFG has also plans to continue the RPG at some point (in what form and with which ruleset is yet unknown).