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, 20 July 2007
I am a bit confused.
Regarding this topic--> (viewtopic.php?f=59&t=59440)to the dissent question. Please correct me if I am wrong but when I see an army of 3 scorpions I see 0 different clan alignments.
Another more practical example is the following question:
How many different digits do you see in the number: 111. My answer would certainly be "none different". What you are implying with your answer, and as far as I can see with the ruling given to the Phoenix stronghold with the different elements, is more suitable if the cards were stating: "For each clan alignment that appears only one time", or, "for each elemental trait that appears only one time". If something is different, it is always different to something else. Sorry, but I can not see any difference between 3 scorpions as far as their alignment is concerned. And since this small thread needs a question to qualify as a valid thread for this section, here you go:
Is L5R definition of "difference" always taken as a reference to something already existing? For instance, two Crabs in a battlefield have one different clan alignment with each other?
Martin Lund (rules official), 20 July 2007
I am a bit confused.
Regarding this topic--> (viewtopic.php?f=59&t=59440)to the dissent question. Please correct me if I am wrong but when I see an army of 3 scorpions I see 0 different clan alignments.
Another more practical example is the following question:
How many different digits do you see in the number: 111. My answer would certainly be "none different". What you are implying with your answer, and as far as I can see with the ruling given to the Phoenix stronghold with the different elements, is more suitable if the cards were stating: "For each clan alignment that appears only one time", or, "for each elemental trait that appears only one time". If something is different, it is always different to something else. Sorry, but I can not see any difference between 3 scorpions as far as their alignment is concerned. And since this small thread needs a question to qualify as a valid thread for this section, here you go:
Is L5R definition of "difference" always taken as a reference to something already existing? For instance, two Crabs in a battlefield have one different clan alignment with each other?
That's a fine semantic argument, but it isn't going to change anything.
"Different," is simply here to convey that we aren't counting a total number of keywords, but the total number of keywords with no repeats. "Different" is commonly used in this fashion in conversations.
If I only play Crab decks but someone randomly asks me in a hall "How many different factions have you played?" my reply would be "One," not "None." "None," would imply that I've played no factions at all.
On the other hand, if someone saw me sitting down with my Crane deck, gestured to my Stronghold, and said, "Do you play any different Factions? How many?" and I played Crane and Lion, I'd say, "Yes, I play one other faction."
The implied reference to the Crane Clan faction creates the basis of comparison and changes the context of the word "different."
However, I think we've digressed enough from L5R rules. The card counts the total number of Clan Alignments, ignoring repeats. That's all.