post for 13 December 2001

Friendly Traveler Village question

Friendly Traveler Village reads:

Bow to produce 2 Gold. Bow to produce 4 Gold when paying for a human Personality who has no Faction traits.

The rulebook, under Factions (pgs 34-35) says:

The Shadowlands Faction does not have a trait that signifies alignment...

Does the FTV produce 4 gold for Human Shadowlands Personalities?

Yes.

Friendly Traveler Village question

We thought this was the case as well, and that is how we played it at the pre release. But, looking through the Oni's Fury rulebook, under Shadowlands card (page 76):

"Unlike other Faction alignments, the Shadowlands trait does not signify alignment with the Shadowlands faction."

Which implies the Shadowlands trait is a Faction alignment. I'm sure this was unintentional, but perhaps it can be noted and changed in future rulebooks.

Yeah, I see the implication. I'll change that sentence next time. Until then, "Shadowlands" really, really isn't a Faction alignment.

Rules questions on old cards (and one new one)

I though there was already a ruling on this card, Doom of the Dragon. (I also remember a general faq on when 'dragon' meant Dragon Clan, and when it meant Dragon, but I'm getting old and forgetful in my youth)

Does it refer to Dragon Clan personalities only, or Dragon Clan personalities and Dragon personalities.

It refers to "Dragon Clan" only in all instances. There is no one word that covers both "Dragon" and "Dragon Clan".

Wutho refers to 'Goblin Shugenja'. Does this mean a Goblin who is also a Shugenja, or the personality called "Goblin Shugenja".

A goblin who is also a shugenja.

Rules questions Alliance/Black finger river

I got a question:

Can I legally name Shadowlands as elligible (Shadowlands can now play alliance, that's why I ask)for Alliance, and so have a 2GC reduction with a personality coming from a "Black Finger River" region on a province?

It's legal to name the Shadowlands as a faction for Alliance, provided you are not playing a Shadowlands deck. You will receive no benefit for it whatsoever. Since there is no way for a Personality to be marked as belonging to that faction, there is no way for anyone to qualify for the 2g discount.

An Oni's Fury answers

2) Below are two posts from Dave and Jeff that are compleatly opposing to eachother. Can we have a clarification of the correct rule please?

They're not opposites. Any extra restrictions on the Fear, like only being able to bow tokens or humans, sticks with it when the Citadel extends it to Personalities.

Question on Judgement of Toshiken

This came up in a game last night, and since the card has been asked about recently, specifically in regards to the conditional use of the word "can," I need to have this answered:

A 2 Chi personality challenges a 3 Chi personality. The 3 Chi personality strikes.

The 2 Chi personality's player plays Judgment.

Now, if the 3 Chi personality doesn't want to focus, does the other personality still get the option of focusing?

Yes.

In other words, does the challenged personality also have the option to strike at this point?

No. You can either focus one additional time or...not focus.

Written in Blood

Is Written in Blood a Kiho? It's got the Kiho border, and it says to bow a shugenja, but it doesn't actually _say_ Kiho.

It's a Kiho. Consider this errata.

Citadel of Daigitsu & Strenght of the Dark One

If I want to use the citadel of daigotsu effect with the Spell Strenght of the dark one:

Citadel of Daigotsu (F) 6 / 3 / -19 When one of your cards is producing Fear, you may bow the card to have the Fear also affect Personalities that do not have unbowed cards attached.

"Strength of the Dark One" :

Ritual Battle: Bow this Shugenja and any number of other Shugenja you control in this battle. Every unit in the opposing army is targeted with a Fear effect with a strength equal to the number of Shugenja in the Ritual. Lose honor equal to the number of Shugenja in the ritual. Gold 6

Need I to bow just the spell card or must I try to bow the shugenjas casting it (assuming i have a way to cast the spell without bowing them, like the event celestial alignment)

Using the Spirit Wars rulebook, which is the last one to define who "produces/performs" an action, it's the primary shugenja. Since he's already bowing, the Citadel cannot be brought into play. (What you need to do here is combo it with Celestial Alignment.)

Situational rulings

Situation #1

Attacking a Phoenix, I have in my army a Tattooed pers. with both Crane Tat and Arrowroot Tat. A different one of my pers. gets popped with a Wrath on Onsano-Wu. Can I then target my Arrowroot tat. to take the hit for the personality, but because of the Crane tat (he can't be destroyed in battle) he won't die, but returns to home? Is that correct?

The Crane Tattoo does not prohibit using the Arrowroot Tattoo, because deciding to use a card is not a targeting decision and because the Arrowroot Tattoo only targets the Personality being saved. You can then use the Crane Tattoo's reaction to bring the tattooed Personality back into play in your fief because you've met its trigger.

Situation #2

Can I have someone with both a Spider Tat ("may not straighten except during your own Straighten Phase") and a Hummingbird Tat ("After the personality bows at the end of the resolution seg., he or she can straighten") They seem to contradict each other ... so which would take precedence?

Spider. "Can't straighten during such-and-such a time" cards take priority over "straighten" cards.

Plethora of questions

I was just wondering about some rulings issues that came up in my playgroup.

1) XP2 Rekai. Can she use her ability if there is nothing opposing to shoot at, just to move into the battle?

No. Targeted actions cannot be taken unless all required targets are available (p. 46).

2) Also XP2 Rekai. Can she use her ability if she's in the current battle, as a regular old Ranged 3 Attack?

Yes.

3) Tsukune Ascends. I'm pretty sure that the answer is no, but does this event effect your personalities not yet in play?

No. It really does mean "your".

4) Luring Tactics + Slaughter the Scout. Can I Luring Tactics to move my Tactician and an opposing person to another battle, then bow that same Tactician to play Slaughter the Scout and kill the guy I moved?

No. The Personality you bow must be one who was already there, whether it be because he assigned there, moved there with an earlier action, or moved there as a result of an action which moves two units but explicitly moves one of them before the other.

5) Mirumoto Taiu. Can he combine his two abilities, to make a Ranged 6 Attack?

No. One card may not combine ranged attacks with itself. Only multiple cards can combine (p. 63).

6) Isawa's Last Wish. Someone uses it against me, killing some mook, and I have the option of destroying any of his cards. Can I nail one that's not in the battle, like a holding?

Yes.

Can I nail a face-down card in a province?

No. It's not in play.

Can I nail his Wind?

Yes. Wow.

Tactician AOF question

What happens if a Tactician uses his Trait, then loses the Tactician trait, then gains it again during the same battle? Is the trait considered to have been used?

Yes, as the Personality has performed one action this battle which counts as a use of the Tactician trait.

Tskune Ascends question (RULES, Vaughn or Zen)

Does this mean Otoshi ("swears fealty to your faction after he is brought into play") will bring Honor?

No.

It works like this:

Step 1: Personality enters play. Step 1a: Continuous effects that apply to all Personalities you control, such as Bayushi Yojiro Exp2 and Fortress of the Dragonfly, begin immediately.

Step 2: If the Personality was a member of your Faction when he entered play and you paid his full cost, gain his Personal Honor as a bonus to your Family Honor.

Otoshi doesn't join your clan until distinctly after Step 1.

command group

Suppose I have Matsu Nimuro with Celestial Sword in play plus 2 other lions. So Nimuro personally has 9 force, his own 6 + the sword's 3. If I play Command Group and target Nimuro, is the bonus 6 or 9?

Nimuro's Force is 9. The bonus(es) would be 9.

Slaughter the Scout-clarification requested...

Is Slaughter the Scout playable during the assignment phase? This stems from the use of the word "move" in the definition of "assignment" in the AOF rulebook.

Movement and assignment are mutually exclusive. Slaughter the Scout cannot be played against normal unit assignments. I'll look for some other way to phrase that glossary entry so it doesn't use the word "move".

Isawa's Last Wish vs. Asako Towers

The first and second destructions are explicitly sequential, by card text. Since the Wish's victim does not pick the second target until after the first card is destroyed, the Wish's controller may play a Reaction which cancels an action as it targets, such as the Asako Towers, against the second half of the Wish and spare his own card without undoing the first destruction.