post for 30 July 2002

paying overlay costs

When paying the cost to overlay a card by more than one Experience level, you can use "specialty" Gold production and cost reductions, such as Jade Works and the Hiruma Dojo's Reaction, that are appropriate to the new card.

Crane Tattoo

The Crane Tattoo is to be played exactly according to its Gold Edition wording, which means two changes from its earlier behavior:

1) The Personality does not need to be in the battle or duel currently underway -- he merely has to die while one is happening.

2) The Personality may no longer activate the Tattoo if the Personality is bowed when he or she dies. (Among other things, this means it no longer combos well with Arrowroot Tattoo).

a couple apologies and a rules question

And now the rules question: This came up at a local tournament last Saturday. When can you play "The Power of Nothing"? The relevant text reads "You may only take this action if you are the Attacker or Defender and have no units in this battle." The last sentence is extremely ambiguous. Is it to be read as "You may only take this action if you are the Attacker and have no units in this battle, or if you are the Defender and have no units in this battle"? Or is it "You may only take this action if you are the Attacker, or if you are the Defender and have no units in this battle"?

The first one.

Ki rin's shrine is a necessity

Having said that, I do hope that the design team, who wrote the card in the first place, understands how untrustworthy this strong Unique Holding truly is, and that they have not in fact used its presence in the cardpool to weaken Dragon Clan Personalities in compensation.

We have, in fact, not.

Sezaru Mask question

The cards text states that the shugenja counts a two shugenja in a ritual. The question is, if used with the "Purity of the Seven Thunders" ritual will the shugenja apply his chi twice?

No.

Ruling on Memorial (Jeff and Team)

Does this mean you can only play 1 Counterattack after an attack phase?

Two different Counterattacks is two different printed Reactions -- one printing on the first card, one printing on the second. You can still play two.

Rules Question

Deeds, Not Words Political Open: Target another player and "call his or her virtue into question." Until the turn ends, the player gains 1 extra Honor for each duel his or her Personalities win and 1 extra Honor for each opposing card he or she destroys during the Resolution Segment of battle, and whenever the player would gain Honor in another way, the player loses the Honor instead.

Ikoma Fudai Lion Clan Omoidasu * Poet * Gain 2 additional Honor when you win a battle with an army containing Fudai.

If I played Deed, Not Words on my opponent and they declared an attack and won the battle then used Ikoma Fudaiís ability, would it be an Honor gain or loss for them?

It would be a loss. The gain comes from Fudai. This is in the archive.

Also, he would not gain the 2 additional Honor if no one defended against an army containing Fudai and he took the Province?

You can't have a winner or a loser in a battle if either army is absent during resolution. [p. 58] Fudai gives no honor if there are no defenders.

Otaku/Utaku and Family Tactics

For cards like Agasha Join the Phoenix and Family Tactics, are Utaku and Otaku considered equivalent?

Yes.

Targeting bowed peeps

I recall a brief period of time recently when there may have been a ruling that you may not target your bowed personalities with your cards, but that you could (because of a minor change in the way the rulebook was worded) target your personalities with other players' cards (Stand Against the Waves, Encircled Terrain played by an opponent, etc.).

Because I recently lost all my Dark Allies rulebooks (don't ask) and A Furry Oni is the rulebook currently available at http://l5r.alderac.com, could Zen or Dave please confirm or deny the ruling-ness of this, um, ruling? Can you target your bowed personalities with other players cards?

You may target your own bowed Personalities with other players' actions. [p. 46]

Kyoso no oni exp vs test of courage?

Kyoso no oni exp can use her open action after is targeted with a test of courage?

Yes. It doesn't target the Oni.

Kisada's Shrine/Quiet Tombs questions

Even though Kisada's Shrine isn't quite here yet, I'll ask a question about it anyway:

Fine. Be aware I won't answer it in particular.

If your opponent has Kisada's Shrine in play, and you have Quiet Tombs in play, what happens when you kill one of his samurai with Yu? Quiet Tombs takes cards headed for the discard pile and removes them from the game. Does Kisada's Shrine happen before the card gets to the discard pile or after? Because if it's after, I'd imagine that Quiet Tombs would render Kisada's Shrine powerless.

Under Quiet Tombs, any reaction that happens "after" a card is destroyed is rendered pretty much useless.

Judgement of Toshiken question...

First, the relevant text... Judgement of Toshiken Reaction: Play this card after players reveal Focus cards in a duel. Resolve the duel only by the Chi (or other stat noted on the card creating the duel) of the dueling Personalities before the challenge, plus the Focus cards' printed Focus values. The Double Chi trait works as usual. If either Personality has not focused, each can focus an extra time, starting with the challenged Personality.

Unprepared Reaction: When one of your Personalities with both a Weapon and Armor attached enters a duel against a Personality without both a Weapon and Armor attached, resolve the duel immediately. You win the duel....

Now, the question... Does Judgement of Toshiken stop a personality from winning a duel due to unprepared? Judgement of Toshiken says "after players reveal focus cards in a duel" while unprepared says the duel resolves immediately... this implies that there is no reveal focus cards step in said duel, and thus, no trigger for judgement of toshiken to go off...

Revealing focus cards is part of duel resolution [p. 62]. Judgement of Toshiken is playable and would trump Unprepared's winner determination.

Rules Q regarding honor and duels

I was looking at the rulings for Memorial that just came up, and then my eye glanced over to my copy of Doji Hoturi (nonexperienced) who can turn duels into duels of personal honor. And then I hatched an evil plot. Or tried to at least.

My scenario is this:

If I'm in a duel with Hoturi (Doesn't really matter if I'm playing Hoturi or if I'm the poor fool dueling Hoturi), and focus a lot of cards, then the focus values of those cards get added to his personal honor, not his chi, right?

Right.

So if the person dies in the duel, either from having 0 chi like with Poisoned Weapon, or because either contestant used Fatal Mistake, my person will then die with a mile-high personal honor, right?

Right.

So if this scenario:

I control Hoturi, and my opponent is some scorpion scum personality. I challenge him to a duel. He focuses. I focus a Focus, adding 10 thanks to a Double Chi. He focuses, I focus another Focus. I should now have twenty-five or so personal honor. Scorpion-scum says strike, and flips up Fatal Mistake and Karmic Strike.

Will I then get twenty-five honor if Kakita Shijin writes a poem about the hero Hoturi?

Yes.