post for 17 September 2002

I need an answer, please

Anticipation seems higher than ever for 1000YoD, as it should be :) I have one question after seeing the preview of Gifts and Favors: It seems to hold a diamond bug... Now I need to know if Diamond is coming soon and what it will do to cards printed in the gold arc.

Diamond is at least a year away, and many more cards will be Diamond-bugged prior to its beginning than were Gold-bugged before Gold began.

going first

Now, why is it that who goes first is determined by adding a random card focus to your starting family honor? This gives a statistically better chance of going first to strongholds that have the highest starting honor, like 6 or above. No, I don't want to mention any, you all know the ones I'm talking about.

This gives a statistically *poor* chance of starting first to low honor strongholds, like 3 or below. Again, you guys know the ones I'm talking about.

If this is all just a game and everything should be fair, then why do the high-honor strongholds get the advantage of going first more often than not?

The different chances of going first is known, desired, and intended. The game is more than just about who starts first; one cannot isolate one element, observe something other than a uniform 50% distribution, and conclude that the entire game is "unfair".

Options I can think of:

Highest starting focus only determines it Lowest starting focus only determines it

Neither of those are uniformly equal either, by the way. Focus values are not entirely random.

Fall of Otosan Uchi Q

Just a quick question for the AEG folks who are in the know...

What is the acronym for the Fall of Otosan Uchi set going to be? Is it FOO?

"FOU".

Rulings: Tsuno Attack Question

Relevant Cards:

Tsuno Attack Reveal a number of cards from the top of your dynasty deck equal to the number of personalities you control. Any of the revealed cards that are Shadowlands Personalities enter play and begin an attack against another player's province. Discard the rest. You may not move your units to or from this battle. Discard all surviving revealed cards after the battle ends.

Ambush Limited: One of your units begins an attack against another player's unit. No other units can be assigned or move to the battle, and the battle cannot destroy a Province. The units cannot move to other Provinces from the battle. This does not replace your Attack Phase. After the battle, lose 5 Honor.

-So, those persoanlities, by themselves, begin an attack on another players province. You can not send any of you other personalities that where already in playh them, correct?

Correct.

-Also, the wording implies it is like Ambush, where an attack jsut begins. No assignment happens. Therefore your opponent does not get to assign defense, correct?

A defense is allowed against Tsuno Attack.

Conscription question

I have a question about the event Conscription from Broken Blades.

Conscription: Beginning with you, each player may repeatedly reveal cards from the top of his or her Fate deck until a Follower or the entire deck is revealed. If a Follower is revealed, that player may attach it to one of his or her Personalities, paying all costs. Return any revealed cards to the deck and shuffle it.

Has this card been changed so that you can keep the follower? The way it is printed, since the follower is revealed and all revealed cards are returned to the deck, after you pay to attach the follower it would immediately return to the fate deck. I would imagine that it is not intended to work that way, but that's how the text reads.

The Follower you put into play is not shuffled back in. You're right. That would be stupid.

My next batch of questions for the smart people

Hi me again :) Celebrating my 6-month anniversary of actively playing the game, I've come up with a new batch of (mostly) rules-related questions that I've not been able to find solid answers for in the archive. So I'm hoping that some kind souls can answer, confirm or deny these :)

1) Presence and Relevance. It has been brought up that reactions in battle do not require presence nor relevance (they are inherently relevant). Does this mean that: Overconfidence's text "You may play this card in a battle where you have no units" is mostly reminder text?

It was not simply reminder text when it was printed. Reactions DID need to satisfy Presence and Relevance in the Gold Edition rulebook. The rules have since changed back to the way they were before though, and the card has not been reprinted with different text. That line has no effect on the way the card is played anymore.

A lion player can bow his stronghold to negate any terrain even where he does not have any units?

Correct.

Flee the Darkness, Isawa's Helm, Asako Towers and other such cards can be used by / bow cards outside the battle in order to cancel an action taken at the battle?

Correct.

How about these:

A monk outside the battle can cast Chasing Osano-Wo on a personality in the battle?

As long as you have a unit in that battle, yes. You have Presence if you have a unit in that battle. You have Relevance if the caster or the target is in that battle. This is the way it's always worked.

Kakita Yoshi may not fetch the favour, no matter your wind or what sort of favour-requiring cards you may have, during combat unless you somehow get him to defend?

Correct.

What's the gold cost of the South Wall of Otosan-Uchi experienced for a Kosaten Shiro player?

The active player gets to decide which exclusive reduction applies every time its Gold cost is needed. [archive] He can pick 5 or 3.

I'm playing the dreaded Lesser Oni deck. One of my personalities has a horde of Lesser Onis attached. I To Do What We Must my opponent's personality with it. Do I gain honor for ridding the world of the Oni?

Yes. TDWWM destroys every card in the unit directly.