Very Basic Rules Question, Concerning Battle Actions

L5R CCG Rules board, 26 October 2006

A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from the Wayback Machine (its copy), so posts 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, 26 October 2006

Hello all,

This is my first post on this forum. There seems to be alot of discussion here, and I am learning a lot just sifting through the different sections. I looked for an answer to my question, but didn't see any on the first 4-5 pages, so I will post here.

My question is this:

Can I play battle actions from cards that are not present at the current battle?

For example, can I play Iuchi Katsumi's Open ability to give a target personality in the current battle +2F or +2C by bowing an item attached to her, even if she is in my home? The reason I ask is because the rulebook states I need to satisfy the rule of presence and the rule of relevance. I would satisfy the rule of presence by having units at the current battle, and I would satisfy the rule of relevance because it is an action that is targetting/affecting a card at the current battle.

Is this correct or am I out to lunch? And if it is in fact correct, would Iuchi Katsumi now be considered to be participating in the battle?

Thanx for your time, hope this isnt too basic of a question.

Zen Faulkes (rules official), 26 October 2006

Can I play battle actions from cards that are not present at the current battle?

Yes, if you have units in the battle (Presence) and the action affects something in the battle (Relevance).

That's the short version. For more details, see Lotus rules, pg. 51.