Found this;
http://jadehand.selikoff.net/stronghold.jpg

and I thought, why not do a second LJH stronghold? A Diamond/Lotus version, one more in-line with the current environment.

I'm halfway decent with throwing together mock-up cards on the computer, if we can agree on stats. Would anybody else (especially mods) think this a good idea?

(And if a mod reads this, can I get the official go-ahead to start on this project?)

for my part, I think it is a good idea:

Here are 2 ideas for JH strongholds.

Shiro jade Hand.

8/4/3

jade card cost 2 gold less
jade hand personnalities can not be targeted by maho cards

Jade hand outpost

10/3/1
you start with 3 provinces
jade card cost 1 gold less
your personnalities gain +1F when defending

For personnalities :

bayushi kenjiro
2F-3C
scorpion clan samourai-ninja
jade hand liaison
-/7/2
battle : bow kenjiro to bow an opposing follower or a personnality without follower

sometimes subtelty is as good as strenght

By all means, feel free to start. It's always a fun little project to do. ^_^

Apparently, any card ideas posted in a public forum cause legal dispute over idea, and therefore will never be printed by AEG. I just wanted this posted here, so nobody throws there ideas on the table, thereby preventing AEG from making it. So, I'm thinking of making a closed Yahoo Group for brainstorming. Would anybody be ineterested in joining? (And has anybody else done this yet?)

I'll still get to working on the new stronghold though, I'll just not post it here. E-mail me if you want a copy, i'll attach it in the reply.

I'm not an artist. I'll admit that. but we still need something to put on the card. I was thinking of having someone render a photo of an actual Japanese castle into an L5R-style picture would be cool, so here are some examples;

Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, in Takahashi, Okayama Pref.
http://jcastle.info/images/bitchu/bitchu3.jpg
Himeji-jo Castle, in Himeji, Hyogo prefecture
http://jcastle.info/images/himeji/himeji.jpg
Inuyama Castle, in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture
http://jcastle.info/images/inuyama/inuyama1.jpg
Iyo Matsuyama Castle, in Matsuyama, Ehime prefecture
http://jcastle.info/images/matsuyama/matsuyama1.jpg
http://jcastle.info/images/matsuyama/matsuyama8.jpg

If someone wants to draw one of these, or something else they think of, as a possible jade hand stronghold, they can post the image here, or email it to me at Vikings_in_California@Rock.com

I like all the picture, although I believe the last one is quite impressive and could be used for a jade stronghold.

If you have pictures for a tower, it would also be nice, to create a jade hand outpost.

Beside that, I am terrible at drawing, so I do not want to even try to draw something.

I am just giving some ideas...

thanks for your input. I'd like to know what people prefer. anybody else have an opinion?

Personally I like the 2nd and 3rd castles better than the last one , with the 3rd edging out the 2nd slightly . But that's just me I mean

I tend to think that, while they do occasionally use fan-designed or fan-suggested cards, most of the time they prefer to use their own designers. And they're certainly not going to print cards for the Jade Hand legion or any of us, so the odds of us messing up something innovative are unlikely. We used to do stuff like this on the Jade Hand mailing list... come up with mock cards for a few of the members, and then use them in online Gempukku tournaments.

Hmm... actually, that might be an idea... we haven't had one of those for a year or two. Any of you guys up for an online tournament using The Game or Gempukku? I'd be willing to run it on both here and the mailing list, and if we want we can use JH Personality cards (and possibly the stronghold as well). Any takers?

Question: In addition to what should the stronghold do, I'd like to have a Stronghold with a cool history. So, I think one of the following should be chosen to be fleshed out, unless someone else has an idea?

1) Built by the Legion of the Jade Hand only recently, this new stronghold is in a place of great strife, where its stalwart defenders seek to bring peace to the tortured land.

2) Built long ago and forgotten until recently, this great ruin stood as a testament to the hopelessness the shadowlands can bring. Now, though, the Legion of the Jade Hand has rebuilt the ancient fortress, and forced that hoplessness away from its hallowed halls. The walls of this place stand silent testimony to the indomidable will and refusal to surrender that is the Legion of the Jade Hand.

3) [Unnamed Stronghold] was built by an impulsive young governor, as testament to his own ego. His faults, however, were overshadowed by his relentless pursuit of duty, and while he ruled his province new justice and prosperity. His son, however, was a slothful man, and easily manipulated. His legacy is not a proud one, for soon the true powers in the province came to dark practices. The Legion of the Jade Hand has been dispatched to determine the source of rumours and strange events in this area, and they are soon to come into conflict with the secret ruler(s).

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_14100 ... BBJ3QN3YOt
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_14100 ... BBtwBvR1He
These are the basic stronghold image using photographs of two famous Japanese Castles. Are there any artists out there that would like to try to render either of the above images in a more appropriate style?

I'll point out here and now that the Fortress of the Jade Hand as depicted on the old stronghold *IS* the Himeji-jo, I'm pretty sure.

I am impressed. Now that it's been called to attention, The image is clearly a rendering of the main donjon of Himeji-jo, as shown in the above link. Does anyone know who did the art for the first JH Stronghold? And should I make a poll for what image to use?

I'm pretty sure it's not a rendering - it's a photograph in which they cut out the sky and added a gradient. if you can do something similar to that (possibly with some photoshop effects added, depending on how they look), then that would probably be good.

That said, I do like the Himeji-jo castle, and your image looks like a slightly better quality version of hte current one, so I'd vote for that one.

Of the three, this second one is my favorite. The first one is also nice.

That would be me, Osuto-san.

Shosei-san is correct, that's an actual photograph on the card, I just did a little photoshopping on it to make it look more like card art.

I look forward to seeing what you can do with an updated version.