Rulings for early March, 2001

Qns to ponder on

I have 1 question in mind but only one seems to answer that particular person's question. So i hope someone will help me with this one. Does the card need to bow if a reaction is triggered? That person, he says, uses Kage sensei and Aramasu exp is out bowing to give sleep token to the opponent. When the opponent discards any cards, Aramasu's reaction is triggered and gains the force and chi equivalent to the no of cards discarded. Then is the person right in doing so?

No. Bowed cards cannot use their actions.

Ruling Clarification Q: Arrival of the Emerald Champion

I'm surprised I hadn't catch this before...

Under Imperial Favor in the Accumulated Archives, it reads:

Giving up the Favor as a cost of playing a card can be cancelled or negated. If it is, the card returns to where it came from, with no refund of other costs. [extension of specific rulings, DW, 30 September 1996]

This applies to Arrival of the Emerald Champion right? So if the Champion is negated, it returns to my hand?

Correct.

Also If the favor IS cancelled, can I play Ring of the Void during the instant after I played Arrival but before it bounced back into my hand?

Good question. It depends on whether a card whose costs are prevented ever actually leaves your hand. I'd like to get the Junta's opinions on this matter.

Rules question 2

This situation happened a couple of years ago, and has bothered me every time I happen to think of it. I have a Togashi Mitsu in play, who is dishonored, with no fire tokens. I play Iaijitsu Art on a personality with 3 chi, then play A Moment of Clarity and put five 1/1 fire tokens on Mitsu. Obviously, I won the duel. My Mitsu was re-honored, but when I attepted to play the Ring of Fire, I was told that the Moment of Clarity occured before the duel, and that I had more Chi than the other personality going in and had not fulfilled the rings requirements. Was their interpretation correct, or should I have been able to play the Ring?

The way the Ring of Fire is worded now, it's the Chi you had before you made the challenge that matters.

Uniqueness Question

I've forgotten the ruling on this, and I can't find it in the archives, so...

What happens if both players flip the same unique personality to Unexpected Allies?

What happens if both players get the same unique region (say Golden Sun Plain) to Regions of Rokugan?

The active player flips a card or gets a Region first, then go around the table in turn order. This is in the FAQ.

Flattery/ Street to Street Question

Sorry about all this, my, the questions that occur when one is bored enough to go through the Accumulated Rulings! I guess you can say that the rulings is one document which "creates more questions than answers!" I don't know if that is a good thing or not...

Anyway, if Street to Street is in play, and I play Flattery (which I know does not count the force of the followers), do the followers get a chance to reattach? First issue is that the battle ends immediately without resolution. Second issue is that all of the personalities are sent home by Flattery, so there are no personalities in the battle to attach the followers.

It looks as though they would all be lost given Street to Street's current wording.

Targeting

This may not be the current way things work, but I think the following addendum would be a good idea:

"An effect is targeted if there is ever a time any player needs to choose, considering only the game rules and that card's text. An effect also becomes targeted in the specific case where a second card's effect creates a choice between two possible targets."

So for example, the existence of Shifting Ground in the card pool, allowing you to have two terrains in play, does not mean that Diversionary Tactics "targets" a terrain where Shifting Ground is not in effect. It would only target a terrain in the specific case where Shifting Ground was in effect and two terrains were also in play. (For example, Way of Shadow can't be played to cancel the destruction of Silent War unless Silent War actually coexists with another terrain thanks to Shifting Ground.)

It's ugly, but I don't see another way around it until Gold Edition comes out. I have no problem accepting this as an interim ruling in the meantime.

This is related to a principle of usability in rules design. With 2700 cards and counting, it is hard enough for experienced players to remember what is what, let alone new players. Each card should stand on its own in conjunction with the rules; it should not require a trip to the card database to interpret. The sheer amount of rulings needed to interpret the game is bad enough.

Is it? How many are truly needed? How many are in there because a large number of people repeatedly ask about them, even though they're the direct result of card or rulebook text?

And yes, Agasha join the Phoenix already breaks this precedent. I don't see what would have been so bad about "all personalities with a given family name join your clan". The family name concept requires some game knowledge but at least is spelled out in the rulebook. The "family name from another clan" concept requires an exhaustive knowledge of the card database, both to ensure that there is at least one clan-aligned character with that name, AND THAT THERE ARE NO PERSONALITIES IN YOUR CLAN WITH THAT NAME. [emphasis mine]

It doesn't matter how many are in your own Clan. All it takes is one in another. And HE'S ALREADY IN YOUR DECK. The Agasha Join the Phoenix is a wasted card in a Dynasty deck with no in-family, out-of-Clan people. No exhaustive searching is needed unless you're looking for someone spiffy to put in in the first place, but that's a problem everyone building a new deck already faces.

Tsuchi-do ?

Tsuchi-do Text Kiho Battle: Bow one of your shugenja or monks and target any Personality in play. The target may not move into or out any battles this turn. This action may be performed even if you do not have any units in this battle, and even if neither Personality is in this battle. Gold 0 Focus 4

If a personality who has been targeted by this kiho is then targeted by Block Supply Lines, Refugees, or the Favor, are they bowed? The rulings seem to indicate yes.

They are bowed.

If they are bowed by these actions, then I have a another question.

If a personality can not be moved from the battle they are in due to a card effect, etc., then why are they a legal target for BLS, Refugees,or actions that would send them out of the battle they are in?

Because it's not illegal to try something that you know won't produce all its effects. It's not even illegal to try something that you know won't produce ANY effects.

Tsuchi-do ?

In a message dated 3/6/01 2:02:27 AM Eastern Standard Time, writes:

This ruling *so* sticks in my craw. It has been decided that what looked like an adjective ('bowed' and in "How were you sent home? Bowed.") should be read as a verb (Sent home bowed now means "Go home. Bow"). Had BSL been worded as such ("Bow a target attacking personality. That personality is immediately returned to its fief") then it'd be two bits. It's sort of like saying 'Vanilla Ice Cream' is actually two things - vanilla and ice cream - and not simply ice cream with a designator/adjective.

I agree with you. To me, this was the worst ruling made in current memory. It makes no sense to me at all. For Winter Warfare, I can accept it (though still grudgingly) but for all other send home bowed effects it is horrible.

Okay, question for you: what, in your opinion, should happen if BSL gets played on a Personality who cannot bow? In particular, what if she can't bow because Twisting Ravine is in play?

Twisting Ravine (DJH) Battle: Terrain "[...] Cards cannot be bowed by actions while this Terrain is in play, although all other effects of those actions resolve normally."

All it did is hamstring military decks to a certain degree..which is what they have been trying to do for some time.

Oh, that's nothing. You should fnord see what We've done to gas prices.

Archive, targeting

What I think Jeff was saying a few weeks ago (or just hinting at), is that a Reaction's _trigger_ won't in itself cause any targeting; even if multiple triggers can happen simultaneously, you'll just decide to react (or not) to each trigger, not pick a trigger and decide to react to it. Or something like that. My wording is probably not the best, but then, Jeff's native language _is_ English (or so I believe), and he is (er, was) paid to make it clear.

You articulated a subtle, subtle point very well.

This particular problem goes all the way back to Imperial Edition, with Feign Death when you've lost a battle. Even though multiple Personalities died simultaneously, you're still not targeting when you decide who to bring back.

Archive, targeting

So your TO is wrong, the favor cannot and never could be used to cancel an Honor loss under Seppun Sensei.

My TO maybe wrong... but my TO is /always/ right.. went it really counts... at the tournament. And without anything official in the rulings, I've go no way to convince him otherwise.

Preventing a loss of honor is a change. Even if the Favor is used to do it.