post for 20 November 2002

card effects

Dying from a duel counts as dying from whatever created the duel. When a card creates a duel, dying from losing the duel is dying from a card effect.

Dark Rings Question

yes

General point of mailing list etiquette here: when replying to another member's post, quote the relevant portion you're responding to. On a mailing list, it's not unusual for one or two (or three) DOZENS of other posts to propagate between the original message and your reply. That makes it extremely difficult for people to associate your answer with the question.

post for 18 November 2002

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 19:43:09 -0800

2) A few questions about Toturi(kyd)'s reaction. Card reads "Reaction: When the Battle Action Segment of this battle begins, look at the Fate hand of an opposing player and discard one card from that hand". ... and does he need to be opposed?

Yes. He says "AN opposing player", which means a player who controls cards opposing yours. [GE Glossary p. 74]

Just checking here... is the above a recall of the definition, or a shortcut?

I can hardly be revoking a definition by making a ruling where I quote it, now, can I?

To the best of my knowledge, I'm not reversing anything. I made a straightforward ruling based on an entry that has been in the rulebook since Gold Edition:

] "An opposing player" is any player who controls opposing ] cards. "The opposing player" is either the Attacker or ] Defender, depending on whether you are on the Defender's side ] or on the Attacker's side, respectively.

I mean, do Regions/Fortifications count?

Not unless they can somehow get into an army.

another Q about Encircled Terrain

Encircled Terrain *Reads, "Encircled Terrain 0G 1FV Delayed Terrain. Battle: The Attacker and Defender each target one of their own units in this battle. Send all other units in this battle home without bowing." [MRP, Broken Blades, 8 August 2002]

Q: How interact the '...one of their OWN units...' (emphasis mine) with Kolat Master?

Kolat Master permanently changes the Personality's controller. Encircled Terrain requires all the affected players to choose a Personality that he or she controls.

if the other player has kolat master one of my personalities, then may I target this personality when Encircled resolves (as one of my OWN units)?

No. You own it, but it is not "one of your own".

(this OWN sound similar to the Spawning Ground, but with unit instead of personality)

There is a subtle but significant grammatical difference between "I own that Personality" and "That Personality is my own." In the first sentence, "own" is the game term found in the Glossary. In the second, it's largely meaningless. The sentence is essentially identical to, "That Personality is mine." The word "own" merely reinforces the idea that it's mine as opposed to someone else's. That's the meaning used on Encircled Terrain as well: the word clarifies that each Personality chosen must belong to the player doing the choosing.

Hida Kosho

Recently, I played a game of l5r where my opponent used Hida Kosho's ability to challenge one of my personalities. I responded by accepting and focusing Another Time, thus canceling the duel. My opponent held that since the duel had been canceled, Kosho could perform the action again. I am not sure if this is correct; is canceling the duel synonomous with canceling the entire action?

No. Another Time shouldn't use the word "cancel" -- that's an improper use of the term. Another Time ends the duel immediately, without resolution.

Also, if one was to play Test of Courage after refusing Kosho's duel, would Kosho be able to challenge again?

Yes.

The Deathless

Any particular reason why this card had to be "The Deathless" and not "Generic Boat"?

Absolutely. It's the same reason we have titles like "Matsu Gohei" instead of "Fierce Lion Samurai".

Dark Rings Question

Can one of the dark rings enter play if it's normal version is already in play?

Sure. Nothing on the Dark Rings prevents them from coming into play under certain conditions. Their only drawback is that they're discarded if a Ring -- light or dark -- of the same element enters play after they do.

Finding the Harmony and the Dark Rings

Say I wanted to get all ten Rings in play. I bring out one of the dark rings. Then I use finding the harmony to bring out the corresponding regular ring. Does the dark ring go away?

No, due to the special wording of Finding the Harmony ("This is not considered playing a Ring.")