Rulings for late February 2001

Rulings for 19 February 2001 / Rulings for 19 February 2001

In Time of War specifically states that all honor gains above 5 are negated, so how does this event trump the sensei?

It doesn't.

Really? Isn't "In Time of War" an ongoing effect? What about "Time of the Void" or "As the Shadow Falls" What specific events trump Seppun Sensei?

This one's entirely my mistake. I simply had the two cards reversed in my mind when I wrote the answer. It's the Sensei that doesn't trump the Event. Sorry for the confusion. Oog.

Rulings for 19 February 2001 [Jeff]

All cards, Strongholds, etc. are implicitly restricted to targeting only cards in play by default.

Is this true only for targeting, or for all effects altering a card type? IE: Yojiro Exp 3 alters the personal honor of personalities still in the deck. Is this only because his ability specifically doesn't target?

No, it's because that's what he was meant to do. Cards like Yojiro Exp3, Wasp Sensei, and At'tok'tuk Sensei are poorly worded in that regard, and the ones that are making it into Gold are going to get proper wording.

Usually, even if something isn't targeted, it still only affects cards in play. Look at Evil Portents.

Just trying to get my mind around this whole targeting thing, which gets more wacky all the time.

Targeting has always been restricted to cards in play by default. It's not new.

Rulings for 20-21 February 2001 / Some Simple Questions

First question, the one I wouldn't be asking if I didn't need to put it on paper for someone.

Are reactions subject to the 'Present in Battle' rules.

No. Only Open and Battle actions are subject to the Rules of Presence and Relevance.

Does this mean that if you have no one at a battle, you can still play The Sun Returns, and bow one of your tacticians not in the battle, to negate the action?

Yes. (And you mean "cancel".)

Rule of Relevance Question

This came up in a multiplayer game the other night.

Player A attacks player B, C & D ally with A, E&F ally with B.

G has a Doji Satsume on the board unbowed.

At province 1, there's a Kyoso No Oni attacking, controlled by Player A .

If G bows Satsume during the battle, to use his open action to target Kyoso No Oni, does this satisfy the Rule of Relevance?

Yes. However, it does not satisfy the Rule of Relevance, so it's still not legal. Both conditions have to be met.

Takuan Technique ?

Being unaligned is not a clan affiliation, so I am not sure if Oath removes the unaligned trait, or just adds your clan to it. Since there are TA unaligned, why couldnt there be other clans unaligned too? I dont have oath of fealty handy to check the wording on it.

By long-standing ruling, Oath of Fealty also removes the Unaligned trait. I *think* that's slated as an MRP in Gold...

Agasha Join the Phoenix

What matters is card text. Since there exists an Agasha Personality with an alignment other than "Dragon Clan" (Agasha Genai Exp.), "Agasha" is a legal choice.

Gee, you got the easy ones. The original poster didn't even consider the stranger situations with Oath of Fealty or Ronin Dojo. ;} Let's see... in my Unicorn deck I can use Ronin Dojo to give Moto Gaheris the Ninja trait, so he is now a member of another clan. This means when "Agasha Join..." comes up, I can name Moto and get Tsume in for just 2 gold! Woohoo!

(Seems legal, no matter how twisted and wrong it is in concept. ;)

You must have missed where I said that it's only the global card set that matters. In-game changes don't.

Rules Q: Shinjo Sanetama

Using the Dark Path/Winter Warfare ruling...

If I use Block Supply Lines to send an attacking unit home, bowed and then use Sanetama's Reaction, would the attacking unit stay in the battle, but be forced to bow?

Cards in Question...

Shinjo Sanetama - Unicorn Clan Master of the Hunt * Cavalry * Reaction: Bow when an infantry unit is moving into or out of a battle Sanetama is in. The move is cancelled if all the units in Sanetama's army are cavalry.

Block Supply Lines - Battle: Remove one attacking unit from this battle. It returns home bowed.

Yes. Sanetama only negates the movement. (He was worded back when "cancel" was used in two different ways.)

New Akasha Question

Hey all,

Quick question on the New Akasha

If I have the At'tok'tuk sensei in play, does rik'tik'tichek gain +1/+1 or +2/+2?

+1/+1.

Lobbying for the Imperial Favor under Rise From the Ashes [JEFF, VAUGHN]

Greetings,

Fast question.

Player A is at 5 honor and has the Imperial Favor.

Player B is active, goes to 6 honor, cracks Rise From the Ashes, and then Lobbies for the Favor.

Can Player A keep the favor by bowing personalities, or is the "temporary honor gain" stopped by the Rise?

Lobbying efforts aren't true changes to Family Honor. They can't be redirected or prevented by things like RftA.

Rules Q

Since this is the first time I've ever managed to get a copy of Kolat recruiter I was a bit confused on it's effect.

Text: "....If it is a personality, you can immediately bring that card into play under your control, paying all cost."

Does this mean that the Kolat recruiter pays for the cost of the card? (making them free)

Or does the player still have to pay the personalities gold cost?

The player still has to pay.

Agasha Join the Phoenix

Quoth Stefan Lenfest: Also your Ronin Dojo wears off before the event comes up (tho numerous other methods will work)...

How does it wear off? The game isn't over, and unless there was a recent alteration in the rules changes in affiliation are permanent, unlike other changes.

Swearing fealty is permanent. Other changes in affiliation are not.

Shinjo's Breath vs. Entrapping Terrain Question [Jeff]

From the archive under "Resolution Segment": (Note: Terrains resolve in the Battle Action segment, not the Resolution Segment.) [JA, 14 February 2001]

From the Spirit Wars Rulebook pg. 43: A Terrain's effects resolve after all players consecutively pass during the Battle Action Segment. Players cannot take actions in a battle after a Terrain resolves; at that point, the Battle Action Segment ends. Any Terrain in play is automatically destroyed immediately after the Resolution Segment.

Even though Entrapping Terrain says "the battle ends without resolution," I would think that this only means that you don't count up force to see which army wins and so forth. There HAS to be a resolution segment at that battle, otherwise Entrapping Terrain would never be destroyed, because, according to the rulebook, Terrains are detroyed immediately after the resolution segment.

They're destroyed after the battle ends, whether it resolves or not. (This has been addressed in the Gold rulebook.) Entrapping Terrain is not the only card that can end a battle immediately; there are all sorts of terrains that could get "stuck" in play when something like Torrential Rain goes off if only a true resolution could destroy them.

Quick rules Qn on Hantei Sensei

In a message dated 2/26/01 6:49:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, writes:

What happens if Hantei Sensei is used on a terrain that has previously been placed under an Armor of Sun Tao, as the terrain isn't exactly 'in play' but it isn't 'not in play'?

I'd appreciate an answer as this has been bugging me for a while.

Armor: "Battle: Play a Terrain..."

I would say the card is not in play (hantei wins).

Hantei does win in this situation. Cards under the armor dont actually enter play until they are played as a terrain card.

Correct.

Kage exp 4 and Yodin Sensei

Can Kage exp 4 use his ability to grab personalities who are being discard if Kage's controller is using Yodin Sensei?

Yes. Kage Exp4 does not target.

Rules question (Jeff)

If a battle has been ended "without resolution" by a card or game effect, can a unit be moved into that same province [...]

Yes.

[...] and begin a second battle during the same attack phase?

No. Each Province's battle can be started only once per Attack Phase.

Points, experience vs. theory

"Theory vs. experience"

Which is more important, theory or playing experience? To me, that's like asking, "Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, the length or the width?" It's the interaction of the two that matter.

And I'm sure Zen realizes that one always gets a larger increase in the total area by lengthening whichever side is shorter at the moment. That Zen...he's sneaky like that.

A Rules Quandry

Hello!

In a game at a tournament one time, I was playing a Mantis player with Kage sensei. He was able to get the experienced Aramasu into play fairly quickly( second turn) but had no other personalities for almost 5 turns. He kept bowing the Aramasu to give me sleeper tokens, then when I ditched cards, he would attempt to use Aramasu's ability to gain 1 force. I argued that he could not because the Aramasu was bowed and unable to activate his reaction. He stated that the reaction did not require bowing, so could be activated any time its trigger condition was met. The TO agreed with me, and I was able to win the game.

Later, when I called the L5R help line, they stated that the other player was correct and should have been able to activate the reaction every time the trigger occurred. My problem with that is that that would open the door for strongholds to have the same consideration. Thus, the Eternal Halls could recycle a kiho at any time, even when bowed. The Asako could bow a shugenja to cancel an action targeting a samurai at any time. The Otaku Palaces would not need the phrase "This may be done if the Stronghold is bowed".

Whats the real ruling here? If Aramasu can use his ability, that will open a can of worms, but that appears to be what the help line guy was telling me. Please tell me any thoughts.

Bowed cards and Strongholds cannot use or perform actions. That includes Reactions. (If you know who you got on the help line, I can have Andy pelt him with Styrofoam packing kernels from the mail room.)