Overview

Legend of the Burning Sands is a collectible card game (CCG) set in the desert lands bordering the empire of Rokugan from the Legend of the Five Rings universe. Players represent factions competing for control of the Burning Sands through military conquest, political influence, trade, and mystical power. The game shares mechanical DNA with L5R CCG, featuring dual-deck construction and multiple victory paths.

Components

• Stronghold card (1 per player)
• Dynasty deck (characters, holdings, regions)
• Fate deck (actions, items, spells, followers)
• Province cards
• Gold tokens
• Honour tokens

Setup

1. Each player places their Stronghold face-up.
2. Place province cards face-down in a row in front of the Stronghold.
3. Place 1 Dynasty card face-down on each province.
4. Shuffle Fate deck; draw starting hand.
5. Set starting gold and honour per Stronghold values.

Turn Structure

Each turn follows these phases:

1. Straighten Phase: Ready all bowed cards.
2. Events Phase: Resolve any event effects.
3. Action Phase: Players alternate taking actions (playing cards, activating abilities, attacking).
4. Dynasty Phase: Refill provinces, collect gold production.
5. Discard Phase: Discard down to hand limit.

Actions

• Play personalities: Pay gold cost to bring characters into play from provinces.
• Equip items/followers: Attach cards from Fate deck to characters.
• Attack: Declare an attack on an opponent’s province. Assign attacking force.
• Defend: Assign defenders against incoming attacks.
• Lobby/Diplomacy: Use political actions for influence.
• Use abilities: Activate card-specific abilities.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Multiple paths to victory:

• Military Victory: Destroy all of your opponent’s provinces.
• Honour Victory: Reach the honour threshold (typically 40).
• Dishonour Victory: Reduce opponent’s honour to 0 or below.
• Special Victories: Certain card combinations or faction-specific conditions.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Cards have traits and keywords that interact with game mechanics.
• The game shares many mechanics with Legend of the Five Rings CCG.
• New keywords and abilities are introduced with each expansion.
• Gold is produced by holdings and the Stronghold during the Dynasty phase.
• Bowed (exhausted) cards cannot be used for actions or defense.
• The game was discontinued but has a fan-remastered edition available.

Player Reference

Phase Order:

1. Straighten (ready all cards)
2. Events (resolve events)
3. Action (alternate actions with opponent)
4. Dynasty (refill provinces, collect gold)
5. Discard (hand limit)

Victory Paths:

• Military: Destroy all opponent provinces
• Honour: Reach honour threshold
• Dishonour: Reduce opponent to 0 honour