L5R Newbie Part I - Introduction to the Crab Clan

 

I felt it would be useful to create a more 'generic' review of the clans for newer players. In this set of articles, I will cover each of the major clans in turn and cover general fluff (who does not love general fluff and his army of irrelevant minutiae!) then some RPG details before finishing with some LCG details. Hopefully this structure will give a good general introduction to both player groups for new players in either. Throughout these articles I will make frequent reference to other settings to draw comparisons and allow newer people to get a better handle on some of the clan structures. 

These will be long. I had considered doing them in three parts but then decided against it. So would recommend instead just moving to a section you are interested in… 

A lot of this will be pulling information from other sources together to allow interested parties to investigate some of the other excellent resources out there.

Lastly I shall update with the new RPG types as and when they appear (another Shugenja School is appearing in the Shadowlands book and I expect a steady increase in Schools as further books get released). If anyone notices any mistakes (and there will be mistakes) then feel free to contact me so I can correct. Also if anyone has any suggested fluff, locations, people text or even LCG advice then I will be happy to include. As before feel free to contact.

  

Anyway. First up we have the Crab Clan 

  

Fluff 

  

The Crab clan can be considered one of the most serious clans in Rokugan. Their very lives are played out amongst unending sacrifice and death holding back the pure evil of the Shadowlands from the rest of Rokugan. The Crab clan therefore have some very prominent traits. They tend to be tall and powerfully built. They waste nothing of use and have little time for style and are very direct in both approach and language to such an extent that they are often considered blunt and uncouth. 

  

They do possess some irritation that the rest of the Empire often seems more interested in spending resources fighting each other than facing the true threat beyond the wall. 

 

  

Location 

  

The Crab hold extensive lands in the South of Rokugan. It is bordered to the South by the Carpenter Wall which can be thought of as of similar ilk to the Nights Watch wall in Game of Thrones. Though without the ex-murderers and thieves manning it.  Like the Nights Watch Crab members are rarely seen in the inner lands but when they are they are usually making people uncomfortable whilst trying to unsuccessfully drum up recruits/finances/equipment for their fight on the wall. 

  

Rough indication of current Crab territory

  

Key Locations 

  

The Kaiu wall (or the Great Carpenter Wall )

The wall is a huge edifice that when originally written was intended (perhaps) to be analogous to the Great Wall of China. Except instead of Mongol bandits it is holding off enormous monsters. For those who can handle Matt Damon being heroic and utterly out of place this film actually gives some good fight scenes at a similar location (with Crane's helping out. Crane's rule). The historical Great Wall was a bit like the the Roman Hadrian's Wall in that the assumed function (keeping out hordes of enemies) was something it generally failed at mainly because the old military adage of 'defend everything and you defend nothing' and opponents could overwhelm local forces and get past. They were both better at controlling access by small groups. This wall though matches more the layman's perspective and the more fantasy based alternates as the Crab usually do stop enormous attacks.   

The first wall on site was built in the reign of the first Emperor. This was less an actual wall then a series of fortified outposts and that held for centuries until the Maw attacked. Since then an actual wall was built which has been improved and replaced ever since. Apparently one hundred feet tall! It has twelve great watchtowers along its length that are the entrance/exits through the wall and the primary defensive structures. The Crab use it less as a defence but as something that can slow attackers enough that heavy reserves can be rushed up to stop strong attacks.

It is also wide enough for siege engines to operate on top and for units of Samurai to pass one another easily.

As with most walls the occasions when it has failed are often more known than its steady successes. One of the most famous being when the Unicorn clan returned to Rokugan in 815. The Lion and the Crab joined together to hold them off (believing them to be a barbarian invasion) yet the cavalry clan entered the Shadowlands and managed to punch through the enormous defences and the two (at that point) most military orientated clans in Rokugan!

The wall in winter appears to have  a similar feel to another popular fantasy world.

For a FFG story concerning the sort of defence the Crab makes on the wall see here As an aside the wall stops at one point at a minor mountain range. Someone should perhaps suggest the Shadowlands hordes just outflank it.

  

Castles - The Crab control several key castles (or fortresses) really all spread in support of the Kaiu wall. Large ones include Hida Castle, Carpenter Castle and the Castle of the Forgotten. All evenly spread just behind the wall.

The largest and perhaps strongest is Kyuden Hida. Which is on top of an escarpment and apparently was carved out of a mountain/single huge rock. It is never fallen yet. The primary Crab Bushi school is based here and graduates have to enter the Shadowlands to kill a tainted creature to complete their schooling which must count as one of the most severe Gempukus out there. Of special note is the huge skull of the Maw (an enormous Oni) which is fixed above the entrance gate.

The Carpenter Castle is the home of he Kaiu family and contains a famous armoury or items and weapons used by the Crab heroes in the past. One suspects a lot of clubs, hammers and tetsubos along with various siege engine designs. Of all the families in Rokugan the Kaiu are the best engineers/defenders.  The castle pre-dates the Wall by almost eight centuries but when the wall was built the Castle was practically included as part of it. One key use of the castle is that there are large numbers of passages and catacombs underneath that lead into concealed Shadowlands locations. This allows secret egress into that dangerous area.

Daylight Castle is (was) the home of the Hiruma family and one of the linchpins of the original wall. When the Maw attacked centuries ago it was taken and the Hiruma lands lost. Since then attempts have been made to seize it back but they have all failed and the Castle now stands in the Shadowlands mocking both the Crab and the Empire as a symbol of their failure. It is also a cause of some disquiet between Hida and Hiruma as Hida Kisada hasn't seen any plans that would even have a slight chance of success to re seize it so it blocking current attack suggestions.

The last Castle, we shall briefly look at, is the 'Castle of the Forgotten'. This is practically a barracks attached to the Wall itself and is home to the Crab's many Berserkers. It is called the Forgotten because the Crab deliberately situated it away from the main trade routes as otherwise its occupants would drink themselves to death (being Berserkers they don't 'care') thus 'Forgotten'.

Barracks of the Damned - Ok I lied, another fort, though you could argue this is also a prison. Set up by the Kuni family this is guarded by the Kuni Wardens and contains tainted Samurai (and others). Some are used to fight for the Crab before the taint becomes too much for them and for those it does it functions as an experimentation facility where as much as possible can be learnt about the taint.

   

Port  - The Friendly Traveller Village is a large trading hub in an island off shore from the main coast and primarily controlled by the Yasuki. It is most famous for being the location of the 'Friendly Traveller Sake Works' which creates a dry Sake of great potency and fame. 

  

Shadowlands Threat 

The Shadowlands are analogous to perhaps Lord of the Rings Mordor except even more dangerous. The taint that it creates corrupts and destroyed and this in itself means that the Crab, more than any other Clan have to make extreme decisions for the survival of all and this is not (always) massed combat at the wall. i.e the stories here    and here 

  

The 'lost' Samurai who appear in the above article (tainted Samurai) can be considered as approximately similar to Chaos Space Marines in the WH40K universe with an equal smattering of horror. 

For a story on fighting in the Shadowlands and the importance of Jade read this story here  

  

Some Key People (Currently) 

  

Hida Kisada 'Mr Smackdown' - The clan Champion Hida Kisada is huge and is also known as the Great Bear. Perhaps he is also very hairy? - surprisingly the nickname came from his temperament and not size/strength/appearance He is not the sort of person who takes being challenged well. 

FFG's Hida Kisada in full 'ignore me at your peril' mode 

  

Here is a later, older, version of Kisada (don't ask its old5R so probably wont happen) kicking Ninja backside

Kuni Yori 'scary mfker' - 

A quote from Neitsche reads, ' He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.'. (Beyond Good and Evil) Which could be the Kuni family's moto 

A young Kuni Yori looking entirely stable and totally non-evil. Definitely not channelling this dude 

This family is responsible for magical efforts to fight the Shadowlands which also means they do a huge amount of 'abyss staring' of their own. Nicely covered in a story that was part of one of the LCG packs ( THIS ONE ).  

  

In the old canon this guy did a bad, bad thing and it looks like his namesake is merrily  following in his footsteps in not knowing where the line is. Or is the line even exists as the story above shows. 

  

Yasuki Taka 

 Yasuki Taka in a standard picture. I wonder if he just likes playing catch with money or whether he actually has magical powers to make the money hover just above the desperate grasping hands of a poor peasant. Inquiring minds need to know the answer… 

Taka is the Yasuki family Daimyo. This used to be a Crane family but at some point in the past they joined the Crab. They provide the clan with a less beefy suicide killer motive and allows a more political/cash orientated family to exist within Crab. Taka is heavily involved in the storyline (see the next section).  He is often regarded as a small ugly (very rich) man who liked traversing the Empire dressed as a peddler and would manage to often make people pleased by getting utterly shafted by him in a trade deal. In the original timeline he was also a member of the Kolat though one who was secretly trying to bring it down from within.  

The Yasuki currently have difficulties with a continual undercover war with the Crane that is starting to impact on the parent clans resources. Also to avoid this very eventuality they had used ronin and criminals to increase their strength without using the other Crab families but the level of crime in base Yasuki territory is now getting alarmingly strong. The Yasuki have therefore started to look to help from the Scorpion which is also raising red flags from the other Crab families (most notably the Kuni and Kaiu) who fear this would damage a valuable alliance with the Phoenix.

  

Other Considerations 

  

More than any other clan the Crab have an absolute need for Jade. This is a magical item in Rokugan and protects its wearer temporarily from the effects of the Shadowlands Taint. The taint  can be thought of as a poison that corrupts and destroys any it contacts and merely standing in the Shadowlands for a short amount of time can cause taint to occur. Therefore to even move in the Shadowlands requires protective Jade. 

  

The storyline has already covered a couple of stores concerning a worrying Jade shortage and the grinning 'coin floating' goblin himself - Yasuki Taka here 

  

RPG 

  

The Role Playing Game (5th Edition) does a good job of providing a wide variety of approaches to all the available clans and Crab is no exception. The base ring boost for even picking Crab allows the player to either choose Earth (steady) or Fire (explosive). 

Then they have the houses. The Crab currently have five house choices 

  

  

Hida - The warrior house. These guys tend to be large, heavily armoured, strong, use two handed weapons (hammers especially) and don't give up ever. 

  

Hiruma - The Scout house. Also fighters this house tends to provide much smaller scouts who are often experts with bows and have to scout the most dangerous terrain in the Rokugani world. 

  

Kuni - The Shugenja house. Focused on taking the magical fight to the Shadowlands.

  

Kaiu - The builders. This house tends to provide the people and defensive skills to maintain and enhance the Wall. 

  

Yasuki - These used to be a Crane family but changed alignment to the Crab. They provide a more courtier/money focused family who are distinct from the other Crab primary houses because their primary focus is making cash to support the war effort as opposed to directly fighting. 

Once your family is selected then you get to choose your school. School is more the speciality within your family, so it is not always a given that you select your families specialist house. i.e A Yasuki Bushi like the Crab Warrior in the story listed above, obviously went to the Hida or Hiruma school. I suspect that just for role play reasons the amount of Hida/Hiruma Crab characters who go to other families schools might be more limited but it does not mean that it could, or should not, happen. 

Whereas the Clan and family setup the way your characters operate (or perhaps 'how' they like to operate) the School controls what they can do. I love the character formats in the game because they provide so much nuance. In old D&D terms you have fighter/mage/thief/cleric etc but in L5R RPG you essentially get to decide what 'type'of fighter you are. i.e are you a huge defensive behemoth that soaks up masses of damage or lightly armoured and speedy avoiding getting hit in the first place.. 

Hida Defender School 

Lets start by looking look at the most 'Crab' School. In D&D terms this is the plate armed fighter who stands and fights until defeated with little nuance. Perhaps the purest version of a World of Warcraft 'Tank' character. 

The Defenders start off with an extra point in earth and water. Their skill set to choose from is extremely martial (no bows to courtesy or politeness here). The differentiation the school gets is then further enhanced by an interesting group of Kata's and techniques. 

For an automatic Kata a character of this school receives 'Lord Hida's Grip'. If used when fighting very large creatures at close range then they get an attack action with a  Void TN equal to the creatures silhouette (to a minimum of 1, . If successful, then the creature is immobilized and the Crab character automatically counts as granting assistance in any attacks launched against that enemy until the end of his/her next turn. Nice. But in addition, if they have spare opportunity they can spend a point to force the enemy to make a resistance fitness check at the characters school rank and if they fail they also take physical fatigue/damage equal to their silhouette. This could be really powerful as a character gets up to high levels and when coupled with the fact that most Hida Crab will be oversized so will get to re-roll two dice when using relevant abilities (and this is one) makes this very strong versus Oni, Troll's and the like and all the massive creatures they would expect to fight on the wall. 

The player then gets to choose between 'Striking as Earth' or 'Striking as Water' and that choice is probably dependant on the favoured ring. Earth increases resistance thus reinforcing the Crabs 'never give up' and ability to soak damage and water is more an offensive suicidal approach. 

Their School ability is 'Way of the Crab'. This great ability allows them to ignore cumbersome penalties on armour (if armour is cumbersome then any movement TN, including Fitness, has an automatic +1 to the TN). This in itself is good as it allows characters in this school to wear heavier armour and thus last longer in fights. It also allows the character to once per round, when resisting a critical hit, deduct from its severity the armour resistance plus the characters school rank!. So, a rank two Crab wearing lacquered armour would be deducting six from the deadliness level even before rolling for their (probably high) fitness. A Katana (for example) is Deadliness seven so this is an auto 'do little'. Now in practice what would probably happen is that the first hit would damage the armour (which reduces its resistance by two) so that the next critical taken would likely be a low injury or the armour getting destroyed. Either way it means any Crab of this school gets to shrug off practically the first two to three critical hits they receive and if they spend most of their time in earth with their heavy  armour and increased resistance with Striking as Earth and they will be very hard to take down indeed. 

The characters default armour is Lacquered armour at Resistance four - this IS cumbersome but that can be ignored as per the School Ability. For weaponry they get a Daisho and choice of either a Tetsubo or a Otsoki (hammer). 

The Tetsubo is an iconically Crab weapon and can be used at ranges 1-2. It does seven damage and has a deadliness of three. It has to be used two handed and is both cumbersome and durable. The cumbersome means that if the Crab character moves before the attack in the same turn then his attack TN increases by 1. Less important when the weapon can be used at either 1 or 2 range. Durable means that if the weapon gets damaged (increasing Tn again) then it just loses the Durable condition. Perhaps most valid when making a Shattering Parry. 

A rather funky Jade Tetsubo, usually they involve more metal spikes than shiny jade 

The Otsoki is range 1 only and does damage 8 deadliness 3. Also 2 handed and cumbersome it is not durable. 

Hida Tomonatsu stylishly modelling an Otsoki just before she dies heroically killing an Oni.

A Lovely school… 

Kaiu Engineer School. 

The school for the Crabs 'builders of the wall' and other defensive gear. This is a far more creation based school. Added rings are the default Earth (increases endurance) and fire (the ring of creation). Skill sets are less martial but do have some army options such as command along with creation types like Smithing and Design. 

The initial Kata is 'Tactical Assessment' 

and they also get two automatic Shuji - 

'Stirring the Embers' which is Social Fire check that targets 1 or more characters and allows them to re-roll three dice instead of two when related to their advantages. i.e Someone of massive stature usually gets to re-roll two dice in related checks. 

The other is 'Stonewall Tactics' which is a martial  & social earth skill that can increase the TN of checks made that do not target you by amount of opportunity spent.

Their school ability is 'Masterful Builders'. Once per scene when making a check using an item they have created they can add a number of ring dice set to opportunity equal to their school rank, A Kaiu with a weapon smithed by themselves will have a way to increase their chances of doing something extra damaging or in a court scene with a fan perhaps assisting in other less Martial areas. This basically makes the smithing useful and character of this school helpful in many arenas. 

Equipment wise they start with Ashigaru armour (resistance three) and carry a Daisho and Oyumi (crossbow) this has a range of 2-5 Damage of seven and Deadliness of three plus is a two handed weapon. It also takes an action to prepare it for use (winding the quarrel back). Though much slower than a bow its damage is high enough to make it useful and it fits with a character who is being trained to build and defend fortifications. 

Hiruma Scout School 

Base ring increases are in Air and Water. Base skills (the full five) cover a mix of martial arts and survivability stuff.

For Katas they get to choose between Striking as Air (reserves dice) and Striking as water (reduces opposing resistance) and automatically get

Pelting Hail Style - this is a Ranged Kata that allows opportunity to be spent to inflict strife to other enemies attacking close by.

Rushing Avalanche Style - If the scout is more a melee fighter then this style can be used with a blunt weapon and gives the chance to spend one opportunity if failing by two or less, which causes the target to take physical damage equal to your fitness. Plus if you succeed and the target is prone then he also takes additional fatigue equal to your fitness rank. The second section of this will not be used frequently.

The School ability is the potentially overpowered 'Flickering Flame Skirmisher' school ability which was re-written to allow the Character to change stance after his turn allowing he/she to fight in their strongest ring and then switch to either their most useful defensive ring (i.e Earth to avoid critical or Air to increase defensive TN) or most practical. In a long fight most characters find their 'best' rings slowly becoming unusable due to negative TNs being applied by the character being Lightly Wounded (+1TN) or Seriously Wounded (+3TN). A character using this ability could just ensure a weak ring soaks up the injuries allowing them to be effective fighters even when being hit hard. 

Starting characters get Ashigaru Armour (resistance three) a Daisho , Yari (Spear), Yumi (bow) and a protective finger of Jade.

It is a very strong house choice. 

Kuni Purifier (Shugenja/Bushi) 

In D&D terms this school is closer to an offensive built cleric who is more about causing pain to others than healing. 

Default ring increases are earth and fire. Due to the amount of auto techs provided there are less skills available (only three) and these are of the more dodgy variety so after Melee Attack Ranged you have sentiment, skulduggery, survival and theology. Since a lot of Kuni characters are witch hunters this in itself gives some nice choices with regard to character roleplay. 

They also get a Kata choice between 'Striking as Earth' and 'Strking as Fire' so a less fighty Kuni would go Earth perhaps. 

The true skill of this character lie in its invocations which are quite powerful and thematic. 

Armour of Earth - Basically allows you to create a suit of magical armour out of random bits of earth and stone. This lasts an amount of rounds equal to your earth ring plus bonus successes and has a TN of the characters earth ring plus rank. So matches lacquered armour automatically for (most) starting players. It is also unsurprisingly cumbersome. When the spell expires the armour collapses in a pile of thematic dirt. This basically allows the Kuni to become more survivable than most other Shugenja in a fight. 

Jade Strike - This is an attack action that hurts otherworldly beings (spirits and ghosts basically) and on success forces a critical hit with the ability to spend opportunity to silence it and other creatures in surrounding area so they cannot cast themselves or use Maho. 

The Purifier gets a couple of downtime Invocations that makes the character potentially very useful. 

Ritual - Commune with Spirits - A downtime activity that allows the character to gain information or relevant assistance dependant on the gift token i.e a water check taking an Elemental gift could allow the caster to use a water Kami to cross a small river, or to make it rain briefly. Lots of opportunities with all the results of this. 

Threshold Barrier - another downtime activity but with a more practical use. At its simplest (and none of the techniques are simple, they all bear study and thought about what they can do beyond the basics) success can bar a threshold (gate, entrance, prayer gate) etc to a creature type dependant on the ring. Those types can still try to enter (TN3 void meditation check) but the caster gets informed. I like the fact you can choose what to block so we have  

Air  - Otherworldly beings 

Earth - Tainted Beings 

Fire - Undead beings with corporal form 

water - wild animals 

void -humans 

Time blocked is one hour plus bonus success but if an opportunity is spent then the caster also gets involved if any of the blocked creatures passed in the last 24 hrs. Lots of cool uses for this. 

The house is perfect for the atypical view of a Kuni  which is of a lone witch hunter prowling around dealing with spiritual menaces.  

A Kuni Shugenja in action. Apparently in a forest with purple leaves.  Though still one of the best bits of art the reboot has seen. Curiously the LCG card using this art used a different version where she has a straw hat.

Yasuki Merchant School 

In D&D terms I would describe this as an almost  political thief. Definitely on the borders of criminal behaviour. 

Ring bonus go to Air and Earth and the choice of five starting skills are from a mainly trade/commerce selection with the sole military addition of Melee Attack Ranged showing these peeps really don’t want to get their hands that dirty in combat. 

Their strength is in manipulation out of combat though. Starting Techniques available include 

Artisans Appraisal - Allows the Yasuki to know disadvantages/advantages and sometimes demeanour's and desires from studying an object/performance. This drills into the Yasuki sub-skill of being almost the Crabs intelligence network within the Empire. 

Rustling of Leaves - A useful ability that allows the Yasuki, when they attempt to spread a rumour, to spend two opportunity that increases the TN of any attempt to trace that rumour back to the Crab by two per opportunity spent this way. Therefore the Crab can spread all manner of nastiness and potentially avoid reprisals. This could allow them to de-stabilise (or even stabilise) a social court situation or person. 

Well of Desire - Nicely related to the above (and the house ability) we have this technique that is basically bribery and low grade blackmail. Rokugan is a very ordered society and the giving of gifts often implies returning of favours so by accepting a gift the recipient is obligated to the giver. This ability means that the recipient has to suffer a glory loss to refuse a gift from the Yasuki. Plus if the gift is one the recipient would desire than they also suffer strife equal to the rarity of the good plus school rank to refuse. This can introduce a win/win for the player in that either the target accepts the gift and is therefore obligated to potentially provide a favour (there is a reduced TN on a relevant next check for this person by the items rarity) or has refused and loses respect and potentially gets compromised allowing other avenues of approach in the social conflict situation. 

The School ability 'Way of the Carp' also ties in beautifully. As a downtime ability and allowing access to a market the Yasuki can just 'obtain' any number of items up to the school rank of rarity four or lower or one single item of rarity four plus the school rank. This will not cost money, honour or any other negative consequence. This could be used simply to avoid spending money or to obtain something that would be dishonourable to otherwise get or even to source  a rich item to use as a 'gift' with rustling of leaves.  So much potential.

It therefore provides an ideal house for political skulduggery and a great alternate Court Character who is willing to push the envelope of what is honourable in getting done what needs to be done. 

Kuni Warden School - (Monk)

A school introduced in the Shadowlands source book this school represents those Kuni with less ability to talk to the Kami but who are trained to guard/watch the Damned Legion instead.

Base ring additions are Fire and Void and the Warden gets to pick four starting skills from Command, Marital Arts Melee, Martial Arts Unarmed, Meditation, Performance and Theology

Honor is not high but that is not an especially Crab thing so is not a surprise.

As a Monk the character can pick from Kiho, Rituals and Shuji

From Kiho they get to pick one choosing between

Cleansing Spirit - A Support check using TN1 Theology Earth targeting you or another. Success means the target reduces the TN of a lot of resistance checks by the characters earth ring until the end of the scene. Two opportunity can be used to remove a one from a wide range of nasty conditions including dazed, disorientated, Dying, Fatigued

Flame Fist - Melee Attack or support Unarmed Action TN1 fire check targeting one person at 0-1 range. If successful the deadliness of the targets unarmed attacks is increased by the fire ring and damage done is supernatural (so avoiding a lot of high armour characters resistance). This has a 'burst' effect where if you get two or more bonus successes then the target of the attack also receives direct damage equal to the fire ring and must resist (TN4 Fitness Air 5 water 2) or become dazed. Dazed increases their TNs by two.

They also get the Cleansing Rite Ritual - A TN3 Theology Void check targeting up to five characters and success removes spiritual contaminants from the targets (not the Shadowlands trait). If opportunity is spent and one of the targets is 'otherworldly' the Shugenja will be aware of this but not who. Two opportunity can also be spent to cleanse an area if it is 'Defiled'. If that area has been 'Defiled' a while then this might only be temporary.

  
and

Threshold Barrier - same as the Kuni Purifier (see above)

They get a Shuji at start

Truth Burns Through Lies - When taking a check to ascertain the truth of a statement opportunity can be spent to see the crux of the argument and exactly which evidence is needed to prove or disprove the statement.

The School ability is 'Suppressing Blows' when   an Attack action check for melee or unarmed is made opportunity can be spent (two) to force the 'silenced' condition on the target. 'Silenced' means that any TNs for Social,  Maho, Invocations and Shuji increase by three but targets only permitted up to school rank. 

Equipment - Is unusual. The character has sanctified robes over concealed armour. Something which nicely represents almost religious guards.  They get a Daisho but instead of a Katana have a Kobuntowari which is a blunt sword that hits at 0-1 range doing three damage with three deadliness and is one handed. What is the point of that? you may ask and its use lies in its Durability and the fact it is a snaring weapon.  When a hit occurs you can spend *+ opportunity  to snare the opponent. 'Snaring' is a condition that means they cannot carry out any move actions or (perhaps more usefully) change stance. 

LCG 

  

In the LCG the Crab have been in the middle-upper tiers but not top two to three for quite a while which rather perversely means they have failed to ever be the dominant clan as they are often regarded as having good enough cards so tend to be almost there but never really bad or really good. Damning with faint praise indeed.

  

Key concepts include their 'never die and never go away' structure using rebuild, iron mine and ****** to ensure strong characters stay around. 

  

To match their defensive prowess, they also have very strong defensive characters with 'Borderlands defender', 'the mountain does not fall' to stop towers bowing and therefore getting minimal usage out of. Crab usually seem to spend most of the game with either one huge character who never leaves or a lesser character towered up and lots of weenies who die in innovative ways to help out. 

  

Key Cards 

  

Kisada, Steadfast witch hunter, watch commander, iron mine, way of the crab, assassination .

Primary Deck Concepts 

This advice can only be general and might be heavily out dated as soon as another set comes out. But the Crab have several common deck approaches 

Defensive Counter - Relies on building large units that can defend, but not bow, and then counter attack. Often with a heavy does of one cost dynasty characters that can die to kill off opposition or die to keep the big characters around longer. The Crab have lots of ways to ensure they don't bow on defence and even (with some specific roles) can unbow and move into a defence (or both with the Berserker). This can make making progress against an organised Crab defence quite hard. Usually you need to break them before they get organised as otherwise they get steadily stronger and more able to cope with your attacks. 

Weaknesses are that it takes a while for them to tower properly and they can get province swamped with weenies or holdings. If they don't get a good enough card to function as their 'never die, never bows' person then the deck can stall quite badly as a lot of it is tied around preventing people leaving as opposed to actually winning combats. They also have some difficulty with very strong military clans such as Lion and Unicorn who both have the offensive power to overwhelm even strong Crab defences. Any meta where one or two clans (Unicorn is currently both strong and popular) has a rock paper scissors type advantage against a different clan means that in competitions players can often get pulled into the mid and lower ends of the results and away from the top tables.  

Dishonor - The Crab has one of the better dishonour pressure decks using Watch Commander as its way to pressure their opponents. Commonly this also holds Levy and Back handed compliment. The best approach is usually to creep the oppositions honor down slowly and then hit them with multiple Backhanded and possibly levys when they get down to two or three honor. If you show yourself as a dishonour deck early (i.e first round bid one) and you will not have the cards to defend and the opposition will start prioritising the air and fire rings so you have to either have a deck that 'can' dishonour and push for that if your opponents honour drops but equally can win by standard province breaks in case they do not.

Saying that Dishonour is still a much easier win condition than honour and an equally valid tactic is to play watch commanders but use the honour pressure to force the opposition to draw less cards allowing you to win tactically by province destruction. 

Common LCG Weaknesses  

The main problem Crab faces is that most of their tricks are defensive based and most of their skill is military. Therefore they are particularly weak at Political conflicts and beyond sheer amount of force less scary on the offence. 

Moving forward the increasing amount of clans running tower style decks can cause difficulties for the Crab because the towers often have the force to overwhelm the Crab defence/offence as other clans tower decks do not possess the 'don’t unbow, don’t die' cards that the Crab have historically relied on. Then it gets into a who can attack harder faster and Crab wants longer games to allow their 'don’t die' stuff to become more effective. 

New Player Advice 

If you are a new player and like the thought of the Crab then the following site may help. It is run by infamous JoeFromCincinnatt  here . who does produce a lot of useful Crab content including play examples in between mouthing off on discord.  He also wrote the FFG intro to the Crab which covers the LCG in more detail than this article and can be seen here

The Imperial Advisor runs some excellent beginner articles including some specific advice on sets to acquire to avoid having to buy all sets. here   

They have also done some excellent basic card introductions to the clans which not only point out key cards they also give synergies and what packs to buy (thus new players can avoid the 'spend a gazilion to get everything' cost of entering an LCG. See here

Various youtube and twitch channels regularly stream games. This one casted by pimittens shows a Crab player playing to the clans strengths (and showing some potential weaknesses), for a more recent game see here where some excellent use of some popular Crab cards forced a win.

The wall as painted by Steve Argyle in old5R. That's not a hundred foot. One suspects Crab women are disappointed if that's their sense of scale.