When can a Ring come into play?

L5R CCG Rules board, 9 December 2009

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, 9 December 2009

Forgive this basic misunderstanding, but I didn't see a clarification in the FAQ so I thought I'd ask here. My question concerns the Rings of Air, Earth, Water, and Void. These cards all have triggered traits, or so I understand, and my confusion comes from the sentence "Triggered traits happen every time that trigger occurs in the game." from the Comprehensive Rules. My question is this: if a trigger happens that would put a ring into play in a turn where I do not have that ring in my hand, can I play the Ring when I get it into my hand?

For example, say I play three kiho actions against another player on my turn, and then on the end phase of my turn I draw Ring of Air. Can I put the Ring of Air into play at that point?

Ring of Air 4FV Air • Unique After you successfully resolve your third or later Spell or Kiho action in one turn from cards with different titles: You may put this card into play from your hand. Battle/Open: Bow this card or discard it from your hand: Straighten a target Personality.

Ring of Earth 4FV Earth • Unique After you destroy one or more provinces or enemy units by winning a battle at a province: You may put this card into play from your hand. Battle/Open: Bow this card or discard it from your hand: Raise a target province's strength by 4; you may instead lower its strength by 3 if this card is in play

Ring of the Void 4FV Void • Unique After you successfully resolve your fourth or later non-Kiho action from Strategies in one phase: You may put this card into play from your hand. Open: Bow this card or discard it from your hand: If any player has more cards in his hand than you do, or if this card is in play, draw a card.

Ring of Water 4FV Water • Unique After you successfully resolve your fourth or later Battle action from cards with different titles in one battle: You may put this card into play from your hand. Battle: Bow this card or discard it from your hand: Move your target unit home or to a battlefield with one or more enemy units. If the unit moved, straighten it.

Zen Faulkes (rules official), 9 December 2009

(I)f a trigger happens that would put a ring into play in a turn where I do not have that ring in my hand, can I play the Ring when I get it into my hand?

No.

http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Card_features#Triggered_traits: "A triggered trait on a given card or stronghold happens once and only once each time that trigger occurs." (Emphasis added.) Triggered traits only happen at the point the trigger does. You do not get to "save" a trigger and use it at any arbitrary point later in a turn.

Will suggest to the rest of the Rules Junta that we might try to make that a bit more explicit somewhere in the rules wiki.