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, 14 July 2014
This was recently debated in my playgroup, so I wanted to clarify a few things about how Naval works.
Engage: If you are the Attacker, you have the first opportunity to take a Battle action, which must come from a card in a Naval Personality's unit. Passing that action does not count toward ending the action round.
This is my understanding on actions you can and cannot use with the action granted by Naval Invasion:
-If the ability is physically printed on a card in the Naval Personality's unit, you may use it. Example: Moshi Ikako may use her Fire Battle action as the Naval action.
-If the ability is not physically printed on a card in the unit, but has been granted to a card in the unit by another card, you may use it. Example: Yoritomo Hiromi Exp2 has used Do Not Delay! earlier in the game, and that duel was refused. He may use the Battle action granted to him by it as the Naval action.
-If the ability is on a card not in the unit, but targets the Naval Personality as part of its required targeting, you may not use it. Example: A player wants to bow Sasada to use the second Battle action on Fearful Volley, but he cannot do so as the Naval action.
-If the ability is a Fear effect, Ranged attack, or Melee attack on a card in a Naval Personality's unit, and you have some way to combine that effect with an effect of the same type from another source that would not normally be able to be used as part of a Naval invasion, you may combine the second ability with the first. Example: Yoritomo Hiromi Exp and Tsuruchi Kaito are in the same army, and their player is using Gidayu Sensei. He declares Naval Invasion, and pays however much Gold to use Hiromi's Ranged Attack ability as his Naval action. He may bow Gidayu Sensei to combine Kaito's Ranged Attack with Hiromi's, despite Kaito not being Naval.
-If the Naval action grants an additional Battle action, the additional action is not subject to the restrictions of Naval. Example: Moshi Sasako has Deafening Thunder attached. As the Naval action, the player bows Deafening Thunder to reduce an enemy personality's Force by 4, then destroys the spell to take an additional Battle action. The additional Battle action is not subject to Naval restrictions, and thus could come from a card in a non-Naval Personality's unit, from a Strategy, from a Holding, etc.
-If a card in the Naval personality's unit has a Home Battle action, you may use it as the Naval action, whether the personality is at the current battlefield or at home, and regardless of whether or not you control any Naval personalities at the current battlefield (though you still must have presence at the battlefield). Example: Moshi Tomiko Exp has a Versatile Blade attached, and is at home. There are multiple personalities on both sides at the current battlefield, none of whom have Naval. Tomiko's player may declare a Naval Invasion and may use the second Battle action on Versatile Blade to move her to the current battlefield as the Naval action. Similar rules would apply to Naval Absent Battle actions, but offhand I can't think of any way to generate that combination.
Is all of the above correct? Thank you in advance!
Jon Palmer (rules official), 15 July 2014
This was recently debated in my playgroup, so I wanted to clarify a few things about how Naval works.
This is my understanding on actions you can and cannot use with the action granted by Naval Invasion:
-If the ability is physically printed on a card in the Naval Personality's unit, you may use it. Example: Moshi Ikako may use her Fire Battle action as the Naval action.
-If the ability is not physically printed on a card in the unit, but has been granted to a card in the unit by another card, you may use it. Example: Yoritomo Hiromi Exp2 has used Do Not Delay! earlier in the game, and that duel was refused. He may use the Battle action granted to him by it as the Naval action.
-If the ability is on a card not in the unit, but targets the Naval Personality as part of its required targeting, you may not use it. Example: A player wants to bow Sasada to use the second Battle action on Fearful Volley, but he cannot do so as the Naval action.
-If the ability is a Fear effect, Ranged attack, or Melee attack on a card in a Naval Personality's unit, and you have some way to combine that effect with an effect of the same type from another source that would not normally be able to be used as part of a Naval invasion, you may combine the second ability with the first. Example: Yoritomo Hiromi Exp and Tsuruchi Kaito are in the same army, and their player is using Gidayu Sensei. He declares Naval Invasion, and pays however much Gold to use Hiromi's Ranged Attack ability as his Naval action. He may bow Gidayu Sensei to combine Kaito's Ranged Attack with Hiromi's, despite Kaito not being Naval.
-If the Naval action grants an additional Battle action, the additional action is not subject to the restrictions of Naval. Example: Moshi Sasako has Deafening Thunder attached. As the Naval action, the player bows Deafening Thunder to reduce an enemy personality's Force by 4, then destroys the spell to take an additional Battle action. The additional Battle action is not subject to Naval restrictions, and thus could come from a card in a non-Naval Personality's unit, from a Strategy, from a Holding, etc.
-If a card in the Naval personality's unit has a Home Battle action, you may use it as the Naval action, whether the personality is at the current battlefield or at home, and regardless of whether or not you control any Naval personalities at the current battlefield (though you still must have presence at the battlefield). Example: Moshi Tomiko Exp has a Versatile Blade attached, and is at home. There are multiple personalities on both sides at the current battlefield, none of whom have Naval. Tomiko's player may declare a Naval Invasion and may use the second Battle action on Versatile Blade to move her to the current battlefield as the Naval action. Similar rules would apply to Naval Absent Battle actions, but offhand I can't think of any way to generate that combination.
Is all of the above correct? Thank you in advance!
Yes, all of the situations described work as you described them.