Rulings for 7-9 March 2001

Deadly Ground/Diversionary Tactics/Flee the Darkness

Greetings,

I thought this would have been in the archives - especially with all the banter recently over Flee the Darkness, but couldn't find anything as compelling as I had hoped for.

Situation: My opponent plays Deadly Ground in the current Battle.

I play Diversionary Tactics to destroy it.

He plays Flee the darkness to cancel Diversionary Tactics.

My understanding: FtD would "cancel" DT, thus the terrain is never destroyed.

If it was never destroyed, then FtD could never have been played.

How should it play out? A) DT stands, destroying the terrain?

B) FtD prevents DT, thus DG stays in play?

C) It is illegal to play Flee the Darkness, for two reasons: it only cancels an action that targets your Personalities (Div.Tactics doesn't), and your own Deadly Ground is still in effect and stopping you.

Winter Warfare (again!),at Vaughn's invitation(was: Re:Tsuchi-do ?)

If the Akodo Dagger can separate the "dishonored" part of "send home bowed and dishonored", why can't Winter Warfare separate the "send home" part? There's nothing to say that the "all other effects" text on the Akodo Dagger isn't just useful clarification....

If that were true it would have already been mentioned. Zen said his ruling was arbitrary, and I think Nick's arguments are well-presented and logical, not to mention correct. As such, an arbitrary ruling should be reversed.

My dictionary has two definitions for "arbitrary":

1. Decided or fixed at the discretion of an arbiter ("A person having power to decide a dispute") or judge. 2. Fixed or arrived at through will or caprice; decisive but unreasoned.

I assure you the ruling is arbitrary only in the first sense. This is how rulings have ALWAYS worked in L5R. There's only one head on the top of the totem pole. Dave set things up that way on purpose, and I see his reasons and agree with the philosophy. Any time a final decision rests in the hands of one person, it will be, by definition, arbitrary.

The current way things work was internally debated for a long time. It involved polling the opinions of not only the Rules Team but top-level players at GenCon 2000. It involved estimations of how comprehensible each ruling would be to new players AND how consistently applicable it would be at the hands and in the minds of existing ones. No coins were flipped. No 8-balls were shaken.

Seppun Toshiken xp. Question

Seppun Toshiken xp version has the following ability:

Battle: Send home an opposing unit with a total printed force less than or equal to Toshiken's Personal Honor. This is considered a use of the Imperial Favor.

Question: Is there any limit to the number of times that Toshiken can use this ability?

I don't believe so.

Rulings for late February 2001

In a message dated 3/10/01 12:40:29 AM Pacific Standard Time, writes:

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.

OK. Another two questions. 1) Why does the ruling for Luring Tactics specify a "resolved battle" ?

Unfortunately, the word "resolve" is being used here in the context of "the attacking player decides which battle to resolve next". It's a slightly overloaded term. A better word would be "processed", or even better than that: "finished".

2) What happens when you Luring Tactics into a province that has had a battle that did not resolve?

The same as if it had moved there via Superior Tactics. I'd think the purpose of this ruling is self-evident: to address units that find themselves still at Provinces with finished but unresolved battles and make sure they don't end up staying in that battle for the rest of the game. Vagueries in wording aren't going to matter in this case.

Ikoma Yosei Question

This was not adressed in the Archive:

Ikoma Yosei 2F 3C 8HR 7G 3PH Lion Clan Strategist Reaction: Immediately before playing a Terrain, if Yosei is in your fief, bow him. Play the Terrain as if Yosei were in the current battle. Flavor: "If I will not fight beside my kin, who will fight for me?"

I am invited to ally by both players. I send no units to either side. During the Battle Action Segment, I take the above Reaction to enable me to play the Terrain. Am I playing it as an attacking Ally or a defending Ally?

If you've done nothing so far this attack that commits you to one side or the other, you can play it either way. You get to pick.