There are seven clans in Rokugan, which means seven colors for L5R LCG—but as you say, they are factions in such a way that it wouldn’t be surprising that someday later we’ll see an eighth or ninth clan.
Which is exactly what ended up happening to L5R eventually. It now has nine (Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Mantis, Phoenix, Scorpion, Unicorn, Spider) major clans plus a number of minor ones.
It also seemed clearly to be a major weakness of the game that it had too many clans. You would open a booster and most of the cards wouldn’t be relevant to your interests, and be forced to work with only a few cards each set since people had clan loyalties (and couldn’t mix multiple clans the way Magic players mix colors). I still have a big soft spot for L5R, though. Great fun.
There are seven clans in Rokugan, which means seven colors for L5R LCG—but as you say, they are factions in such a way that it wouldn’t be surprising that someday later we’ll see an eighth or ninth clan.
Which is exactly what ended up happening to L5R eventually. It now has nine (Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Mantis, Phoenix, Scorpion, Unicorn, Spider) major clans plus a number of minor ones.
It also seemed clearly to be a major weakness of the game that it had too many clans. You would open a booster and most of the cards wouldn’t be relevant to your interests, and be forced to work with only a few cards each set since people had clan loyalties (and couldn’t mix multiple clans the way Magic players mix colors). I still have a big soft spot for L5R, though. Great fun.