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Differences Between Legend of the Burning Sands and Legend of the Five Rings

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    There are several distinct differences between Legend of the Five Rings and Legend of the Burning Sands.  I hope this explains those differences adequately.  This is essentially a very capsule version of the rulebook.

• Deck Construction
  • LBS uses only one deck of cards.
  • You must have at least 55 cards minimum (which does not include your Stronghold or your City Sections)
  • You may have 3 copies of any card in your deck - including Unique cards.
• City Sections
  • City Sections are NOT Provinces.  They store your water.  All of your cards will be put into play from your hand.
• Attaching and Using Spells
  • Spells are not attached to your Sahir's.  (Sahir is the trait equivalent to Shugenja)
  • After you pay the cost and bow your Sahir, the spell takes effect.  Some stick around (Jinn).  Some have an effect and go.  And others stick around for a while (Curses).  But spells are usually discarded and not destroyed so they will eventually cycle back into play.
• Story Cards
  • There are no Elemental Rings in LBS.  Instead you have Story Cards.  They represent one of the One Thousand Tales of the City.
  • They are brought into play much like Elemental Rings.  They have their conditions.
  • Unlike Rings, each Story has a point value.  If a player gets 5 points worth of Stories into play, they win a Story Victory.
  • Each Story gives you a Reward of some kind.
• You may target your own bowed cards
• Victory Conditions
  • You win the game if -
  • You destroy your opponents City Sections or outlast him in Water (Military Victory).
  • You put 5 points worth of Stories into play (Story Victory).
  • Some Stories can create an Alternate Victory condition.
  • You lose the game if -
  • You ever have no Water tokens under your control.
  • All of City Sections are destroyed.
• The Caliph's Blessing
  • All turns in LBS are simultaneous.
  • In order to maintain order in a game, one player will hold the Caliph's Blessing.  This person is the person to start each action.
  • The Caliph's Blessing moves to the player on his left at the end of a turn.
• Paying Water Costs
  • Many cards have two costs to fulfill.  A Water cost and a Copper cost.
  • Water Costs are paid from your Water tokens on your City Sections.
  • Water paid out is gone.  It doesn't come back.
• Mass Combat
  • Battles in LBS run a bit differently.
  • When a player declares an attack, he sends his units to his opponent's City Sections much like L5R.
  • Infantry Phase is now called Ground Maneuvers.
  • Cavalry Phase is now called Flying Maneuvers.
  • Now that all your units have arrived, the battle begins.
  • The Defender gets the first action, as always.
  • A player bows a card (or an entire unit), totals up the Strength (same as Force) and that is how much damage he does.  This is called Engaging.
  • The opposing player then has to absorb the damage somehow.
    • He can destroy Heroes or Followers or both up to the total of the damage done.  (I do 5 points, he destroys a 2 Strength Hero, a 2 Strength Follower, and a 1 Strength Follower).
    • He can destroy Water tokens on his City Section.
    • He can destroy the City Section and absorb all of the damage that way.
    • He can discard a card from his hand and absorb the Fate Value of that card in damage.  However, if you discard a card, a Hero must be destroyed as well.  And the card discarded goes to the Buried pile instead of the Saved pile.
    • Any combination of these things can be done to absorb the damage.
    • A Hero who has more Strength than the damage dealt is immune to the damage and can absorb all of it without taking any.  (I do 4, his Hero has 5 Strength, then nothing happens).
  • After a player engages a unit, the opposing player then gets his opportunity to engage a unit or do another Open or Battle action.
  • As always, Open and Battle actions can played as normal.
  • The Battle ends when both players pass simultaneously.
  • One interesting element of combat is that a Hero can bow and return home without doing anything.  He flees the battle.
• Duels
  • Duels are also a bit different in LBS.
  • A Challenged Hero starts a duel by Thrusting.
  • A Thrust is when you play a card out of your hand (face down) and the damage done is equal to the Fate Value.  The damage is always done to Ka (same as Chi).
  • The other player can now Parry.  He discards a card (face down) and can absorb the Fate Value of his card.
  • The cards are revealed.  If the Parry didn't equal up to the thrust, his Hero takes the difference in damage to his Ka.  If his Ka hits 0, he loses and is destroyed.  If his Parry is greater than the Thrust, he takes damage equal to the difference.  Basically, he overextended himself, or cut himself in the process.
  • Now the player who Parried makes his Thrust, etc.
  • A player is not required to Thrust.
  • A player can make a desperate move to Parry.  He draws and discards a card from his deck (which goes into Buried instead of Saved) and the Fate Value of the card is his Parry.
  • If both players pass simultaneously and their Heroes are still alive, then compare Ka and the lower one loses.  A Tie is a loss for both players.
  • A loss, unless otherwise stated, means death.
  • Ka damage is restored after the duel.
• Raids
  • Raids are an interesting addition to the game.  They occur during the Night phase and are an attempt to steal the Water of your opponents.
  • Only one unit gets sent.  He has to be unbowed.
  • Raids are non lethal.  Instead of engaging, each player discards a card face down and reveals them when both have been played.  High Fate Value wins the Raid.
  • Some Heroes have traits that give them higher Raid values.
  • Unless a Hero has a higher Carry, then they walk away with a Water token.
• The Imperial Favor
  • The Imperial Favor does not exist in LBS.
• Honor
  • Honor is essentially meaningless in LBS.  Instead of Honor, cards have Influence.  Influence is not a minimum requirement, but a representation of how powerful or influential a Hero is.
  • Followers always add their Influence to the Hero they are attached to.  Followers have no Influence of their own.
  • A man can live many years without Honor.  He can only live 3 days without Water.
• Phases
  • Dawn Phase
    • Any cards which are bowed are straightened.
  • Day Phase
    • Perform any Day or Open actions.
    • Bring a Hero or Holding into play.
    • Attach a Follower or Item to a Hero.
    • Move cards among Heroes.
    • Once per turn, create an Attack Phase.
  • Night Phase
    • Perform any Night or Open actions.
    • Pay 3 Water to return a dead Khadi Hero to play.
    • Once per turn, create a Raid Phase.
  • End Phase
    • Draw 4 cards, then discard to your maximum hand size.  (Maximum hand size is 4 plus the number of City Sections you have in play).

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