post for 1 April 2003

Promos in New Herald (AEG) attn: Jeff A.

email us at customerservice@alderac.com or call (909) 390-5444 during Pacific hours and ask for Customer Service.

Does this mean we should have recieved a Kihei?

All the Heralds were supposed to have one of each card. We did not run out or do things differently for different areas.

And if we did not we should email Custom service?

Only if you want a copy of the card you didn't get. (You will not be required to return one of your duplicates if you do this.)

New Tournament kits...(AEG, please)

Greetings, Y'all,

I have seen the new tournament kits listed on a couple of sites for preorder, and was wondering, when is actual information going to be available on these kits, such as:

1. How many of the 5 card boosters are in each kit?

2. Does each booster contain new cards? Reprints? Both?

3. What else does each kit contain?

I've forwarded this up the chain to those who decide how to advertise. As for Question #2, the boosters are comprised at least partially of never-before-seen cards. More, we won't say.

Ikoma Sume / In Search Question

This situation came up during our Week of the Ratling last Sunday: Lion is up against Unicorn in the semifinals.

Lion attacks with a number of personalities, one of which has been affected twice by Ikoma Sume (i.e. two permanent +1/+1 bonuses). Unicorn defends, and then plays In Search of the Future as his first battle action. Does the In Search take away the "permanent" changes given by Sume to the personality?

The two +1F bonuses that the Personality in question is currently enjoying do not come from a card attached to him. In Search of the Future will reduce them to +0F until the end of the turn.

At the time, I ruled that the "force" part of the bonus was lost for the duration of the battle, on the precedent of In Search of the Future vs. Otaku Tetsuko (ref. Accumulated Rulings).

This entry in the archives has nothing to do with In Search's duration. Tetsuko is used as an example of a card that grants itself a bonus, to point out that In Search reduces those too. The FAQ addresses the actual point you're unclear on:

] The phrase "in this battle" describes which cards are affected, ] not the duration of the effect. Any bonus reduced to 0 stays 0 ] until end of the turn, no matter where the card may move ] afterwards, and cards moved into the battle after In ] Search... is played will not suffer any reduction.

On the other hand, it could be that Sume's bonuses are literally supposed to be permanent, and shouldn't be affected by In Search in the first place.

That's once again the wrong track. GE rulebook, page 39:

] "Permanent" is just a shorthand way of saying "until the end ] of the game." It does not mean that the change can never be ] undone.

post for 31 March 2003

Karmic makes it a tie. Reju makes him win. Rend makes it a tie.

Hang on there. Reju's trait makes _him_ win in a tie, but it doesn't change the fact that the duel is a tie. From the accumulated rulings:

Okay, stop. The archive entry is not for the Experienced version of Hitomi Reju. That ruling does not necessarily apply to that version.

In any case, I'm sending the issue to the entire Rules Team, since I see there is sufficient room for multiple interpretations.

post for 31 March 2003

So Heavy Shadow of Fear provides a Force bonus equal to the strength of a cards fear effect. The duration of which is "Until you next events phase" -

No. You're reading the clauses backwards. Heavy Shadow of Fear says, "Until your next event phase, any card capable of a fear effect has a force bonus equal to the strength of the fear effect." It's worded to apply continually. Cards that gain or lose Fear actions, or have Fear actions that change strength, will have their bonuses change mid-stream.

The problem only arises with the interaction of O-Ushi and Heavy Shadow because of the ruling that Heavy Shadow is not a once off bonus unlike every other card I can think of in the game that has a similar effect.

Rising Sun? Shadowlands Marsh? Akui Cliffs? That's three in Gold Edition alone. There are some cards that say "All X cards in play right now get a non- varying +Y bonus", and there are cards that say "While this effect lasts, cards gain a possibly variable +Y bonus while they meet condition X."

(Does the bonus from Strength of Purity go away if the personality is Dishonored after it is gained?

No, because Strength of Purity is one of the former types of card. He would lose the bonus from Rising Sun, though.

Rules Questions

Scorpion Clan Samurai*Experienced 3* Unique Reaction: Immediatly before Hisa is destroyed, instead discard all cards attached to him and place him face up in one of your provinces. Discard the card that was in the province.

If he dies during my Dynasy Phase, can I bring him back into play during my Dynasty Phase?

Absolutely.

Side questions, currently, as soon as a province is empty I should fill it, so if during my dynasty phase Hisa dies, just before he dies I discard the card in the province and put him in, and if I bring him into play I should immedialty refill the provinces right?

Right.

And the cost reduction is as any effect, it last all turn? I mean if I make Hisa enters play by reducing his cost via Hiruma Dojo, the cost reduction ends just at the end of the turn right?

Ooo! It looks like Leon isn't the only one who can find holes in the rulebook!

That's an important question. For the sake of balancing the fundamental rules of the game and keeping things the way they were before this formally became a cost reduction, I'd have to rule that the 2-gold Faction discount only applies to that one purchase.

Jeff Alexander Lead Designer, Farscape CCG