A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 7 March 2013
I'm sure this is a relatively simplistic question, but I just wanted to be sure and clear: Will Heart of Shinomen Forest's Fear negation effect work on all actions with the Fear keyword - for example, Daigotsu Hotako?
Card text from the oracle:
Heart of the Shinomen Forest Forest Forests enter play for you paying 3 less Gold. Negate all Fear effects upon your Naga cards. If you control no Shadowlands cards, you may ignore Honor Requirements when bringing Naga cards into play. Your deck may include four copies of any non-Unique Naga card.
Daigotsu Hotako Spider Clan • Shadowlands • Samurai • Naval • Paragon • Experienced 3 • Unique • Obsidian Champion Enters play paying 2 less Gold if you are a Lion Clan player. After Hotako enters play: Lose 2 Honor. Fear Open: Target a Personality: He may not perform actions this turn.
Relevant Rules Text: Fear Some older cards have an abilities that read: "Fear Battle: Fear X". These abilities should generally be read as "Fear Battle: You may target a unit in the current enemy army. Bow all non-Undead Followers in it with Force less than or equal to X." Cards that refer to Fear "strength" only refer to Fear abilities written in this shorthand, not just any number in a Fear ability.
Jon Palmer (rules official), 8 March 2013
I'm sure this is a relatively simplistic question, but I just wanted to be sure and clear: Will Heart of Shinomen Forest's Fear negation effect work on all actions with the Fear keyword - for example, Daigotsu Hotako?
Card text from the oracle:
Heart of the Shinomen Forest Forest Forests enter play for you paying 3 less Gold. Negate all Fear effects upon your Naga cards. If you control no Shadowlands cards, you may ignore Honor Requirements when bringing Naga cards into play. Your deck may include four copies of any non-Unique Naga card.
Daigotsu Hotako Spider Clan • Shadowlands • Samurai • Naval • Paragon • Experienced 3 • Unique • Obsidian Champion Enters play paying 2 less Gold if you are a Lion Clan player. After Hotako enters play: Lose 2 Honor. Fear Open: Target a Personality: He may not perform actions this turn.
Relevant Rules Text: Fear Some older cards have an abilities that read: "Fear Battle: Fear X". These abilities should generally be read as "Fear Battle: You may target a unit in the current enemy army. Bow all non-Undead Followers in it with Force less than or equal to X." Cards that refer to Fear "strength" only refer to Fear abilities written in this shorthand, not just any number in a Fear ability.
Yes, Heart of the Shinomen Forest will stop any action with the Fear keyword that affects your Naga cards, not just the old rulebook Fear effect.