post for 23 January 2002

post for 21 January 2002

So this is a REVERSAL? this is from the current rules archive.

Bonuses and penalties Cards with "*" as a stat are read individually to determine whether it has a bonus. Some refer to a "bonus" or "gain," in which case they have no (i.e., zero) printed stat. Others state a variable the stat is equal to, which is not a bonus. [REVERSAL, JA, e-mail, 30 August 2000]

You've got a point there. No, it shouldn't be a reversal. The archive ruling stays. In Search of the Future will NOT affect either the Doji or the Shiba House Guard.

post for 21 January 2002

I have a question about this. If it is not legal to move into a battle that you are already in

No one said it was illegal. In fact, quite the opposite is the case: it is NOT illegal in L5R to perform an action even if it's known that some or all of its effects will do nothing. The Defender can play Block Supply Lines on a bowed attacking Personality. (Quick! Decide whether or not you agree. What's your kneejerk response? Then try to figure out why you think that way and how it's any different.) You can shoot with Mukami (make a ranged 3 attack, then go home) during Winter Warfare (cards can't enter or leave battles with actions). Etc, etc.

why can he target the provice to move into? If he does not target the provice what does his action target? I can not think of anything else for it to target, or does this not target since there are no other cards involved?

Whether he targets the current battle is irrelevant. His action is a Battle action, so there will always be a "current battle", hence there will always be an available target.

post for 21 January 2002(Jeff)

A). The rule is "Do not count the Family Honor of players who cannot currently win by Honor or who have been eliminated." I put the word "currently" in there so people wouldn't need to ask me this question. :)

Uh, wouldn't the answer be "D) on the Scorpion player's next turn"?

Good catch. The team will win a joint Honor Victory if the team's total Family Honor is 80 or more at the start of either team member's turn.

Atoshi vs. Hyun

K. Atoshi: Atoshi can remain bowed. Political Limited: Bow while you have the Imperial Favor. Select a bowed Personality. The target Personality may not straighten until after one of the following occurs: Atoshi straightens or is destroyed, or you lose the Imperial Favor.

M. Hyun: Open: Bow Hyun to straighten a Tactician Personality.

Let's say Atoshi 'locks down' a Tactician. The Lion player wants to straighten him. Which of the following scenarios takes place? A) Nope. Like Atoshi says, 'The target Personality may not straighten...', so Hyun can't do her thing. B) OK, he can unbow, but since Atoshi is still targeting him, he'll be locked down again if he bows before Crane's turn. C) Hyun laughs at Atoshi's pathetic attempts to entangle the tactician, and straightens him anyway. D) (Insert Jeff's wise and correct answer here...?)

Hyun cannot straighten the Tactician. Technically, her action is legal but doesn't do anything, so the answer isn't quite A), but it's close.

Luring Tactics Question

Once a tactician moves an opposing Personality into a province with Luring Tactics, can he then bow and destroy the Personality with Slaughter the Scout as a reaction to the opposing Personality being dragged along into that battle?

No. To play Slaughter you have to bow a Personality who was already in the battle being moved into.

quick rules question

Ok, say I have Ide Michisuna in play [Reaction: Bow Michisuna when a target Personality is being restored to honor to negate the re-honoring. (If the Personality was committing seppuku, the Personality dies dishonorably and causes an honor loss as normal.)], and somebody plays Shame on a dishonored samurai with a printed Personal Honor of 2. The samurai chooses to commit seppuku to reduce the honor loss to 1 (as per the rules), but I bow Michisuna, so he doesn't die honorably. The samurai causes an honor loss of 2 (based on dying dishonored, as per normal rules), but what happens to the honor loss created by Shame? Does the player lose another 7 for Shame (since the seppuku kinda failed), or does he lose 1 (as if the seppuku went through like normal), or what?

1. The restoration to honor was negated, nothing else. The reduction of Shame's loss from 7 to 1 still happens. The player would lose 3 Honor, total.

In Search of the FUture

Does In Search of the Future negate the force bonus from The Spawning Grounds stronghold?

That bonus is not from a card attached to the Oni/Goblin/ whatever, so yes, it's negated.

Hataki

A Ranged Attack requires a target. You cannot take a targeted action in L5R when there's no legal target for it. So, while Rekai can shoot without moving, she cannot move without shooting.

Also, wouldn't Rekai and Hataki both need to target the current battle to move into it, because everything targets everything else by default? So, if they can't legally target the battle because they're not in it,

You're making up rules here.

Moving into "another battle", for example, naturally requires that the Personality be in one battle and that you pick a different one. It's imposed by the grammar. Targeting "the current battle" is different. It places absolutely no restrictions on where the Personality needs to be or how many total locations are involved. "Is there a battle going on? Okay, it's targeted. Next!"

Toturi Miyako Question

I though he could protect them. By the Foo rule Toturi's army personalities are Toturi cards aren't they, in much the same way that the Jade champion is a Jade card.

The Keyword Rule does not apply to Faction alignments. [AOF rulebook p. 33] Belonging to the Dragon Clan does not make you a dragon, and belonging to Toturi's Army does not make you a Toturi card.

Hataki

Rarely, the rulings made are detrimental to the game. Reactions requiring relevance was one, and I think letting a peep use an ability that requires moving without moving is another one.

That's just it. It doesn't *require* moving. Moving is an effect, not a cost. If Hataki said "Move him into the current battle to straighten him," things would be different.

Rules Q: Requirements for battle actions

Greetings, and thanks to all for their previous replies.

I was playing last night with a friend who hadn't played since before Hidden Emperor, and I'm new since Gold. He thought that in order to target a Personality for a Battle action, that Personality must be in the current battle. The specific card I used was Kharmic Unison, which reads:

Kiho Battle: Bow one of your Shugenja or Monks to target a unit. Cards in that unit cannot contribute more than their printed Force to their units' Force totals during the current battle's resolution.

This kiho makes no mention of "opposing" or "in the current battle", so I bowed one of my at-home monks to affect one of his attacking Personalities. Legal, or not?

Legal, provided you have at least one unit in the battle (any unit will do) to satisfy the Rule of Presence.