post for 27 June 2002

Another Acquiring Favor Question

Jeff, I brought this question up at the Sac Kotei and you said that at the moment you would rule it one way and look into it more later. So the question: Can you use Acquiring Favor plus Tsudao to send an attacking Matsu Hataki home? I said yes, you said no, could you clarify.

Zen found the current ruling, right where he'd left it. Good ol' Zen.

"If a card is used to pay the cost of an Imperial Favor effect (e.g., Acquiring Favor), it is considered a use of the Favor in all ways. [VRD, 28 December 2001]"

Exp'd personalities [JEFF]

Grandfather rule meaning...that in my deck if im using 3 rallying crys two of which are from Jade and one is from gold the 2 jade ones arent gold legal?

The "grandfather clause" from the old Strict and Extended Jade format said that if a Personality was Jade-legal in any way, all other experience levels of that Personality were also Jade-legal automatically. This is NOT THE CASE with the Gold Format.

shadowlands marsh

does a shadowlands marsh and narrow ground make every non shadowlands personality zero force or 2 force ??

The penalty from the Marsh begins when that battle begins and the card is first present in it, and lasts as long as both of those conditions continue to hold. The change to 2 from Narrow Ground happens just before the Battle Action Segment ends. In pretty much every conceivable situation, it will happen after the -2F from the Marsh has been applied. The combo will not reduce things to 0.

Marries the Barbarian/Remorsefull Seppuku

I saw on one of the discusion boards that a Shadowlands player can use Marries the Barbarian and Remorsefull Seppuku. In my play group we all thought that would be considered dishonor type actions. Can Shadowlands use these cards?

The Shadowlands aren't banned from playing "dishonor type actions". The Strongholds in the Gold format can't play Political actions and they can't cause unconditional honor losses, but that's it. Marries a Barbarian doesn't fit either of those categories. Neither does Remorseful Seppuku. They're both legal.

Acquiring the Favor

Interpreting AtF is pretty simple in Gold. The Wind you represent in effect gives your stronghold it's ability permanently. You just need to toss the Favor as a cost of that action. But in Open, I get a little more confused. Are the 4 different functions of the Favor abilities that everyone in the game has, that just cost the Favor to use?

The use of Winds instead of the old four universal Favor actions is not limited to just Gold Storyline tournaments. It's a part of the standard rules now, for all L5R games. The use of the old Favor rules is optional and has nothing to do with Gold versus Open.

So in Open, could anyone toss AtF and bow their stronghold to use any of the 4 uses, regardless of who has the Favor or the higher honor?

It's simple: playing AtF is just like discarding the Favor to help pay for something. You don't need to have the Favor to use it. The one thing you can't do is play it when the discard is the RESULT of some effect, not a cost.

Marries the Barbarian/Remorsefull Seppuku

I belive the MRP of Remorseful seppukku does not rehonor the personaility before it dies.

It no longer restores the Personality to honor as an explicit effect of the card. That is because the basic rules of the game state that any death by any form of seppuku restore dishonored people to honor before they die. So, the Personality will still not cause an honor loss for dying dishonorably, just like before Gold Edition.