Rules for 21 April 2003
A rules digest from the L5R CCG rules team, copied from the mailing list archive for Oracle of the Void. The askers' names are left out. Rulings are as they stood on this date; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
Greetings,
Rules for 20 April 2003, Part 2
Does that differ with ruling on Overwhelmed? From what I can tell, Blocker B would stay in the battle and Blocker A would go home? This would be contrary to Blocker A having to be destroyed?
No. Unit A is toast. I probably snipped the original question more than I should have (my wish to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of posts means I sometimes cuts too much).
I'm thinking of changing the Archive entry on Overwhelmed to something like this:
* If an opposing player cannot send home two units: - The highest force unit must be destroyed if it can be legally targeted. - If the highest force unit cannot be targeted, one unit must be sent home if it can be.
Rules for 20 April 2003
Superior Stance - Is it an effect of refusing that the duel is canceled.
The word "cancel" is not used in the text you typed. So the duel isn't canceled.
I'm not sure what you are trying to say here Zen.
Yeah, I get that a lot. ;)
"Cancel" has a very specific meaning in L5R, defined in the rulebook. Neither refusal nor Superior Stance "cancels" a duel. The duel doesn't happen, is prevented, whatever -- but it isn't "canceled."
The refusal still works right (ie the duel doesn't happen)? The action initiating the duel resolves fully, right?
Yes to both.
Rules question follow up
The question (paraphrased) is, "Can Imperial Messenger be played in response to an event?"
There is a ruling in the Archive (http://www.legendofthefiverings.com/rulings) that Martyr can be used when an event kills a Personality. That implies that while resolving, the event can be targeted, counts as having been "played," and so on. That suggests that Imperial Messenger could be used on Suspicions.
This is a *tentative* ruling and may reverse. I'm going to ask the Rules Junta if they agree.
And, on a related note...
Rules for 20 April 2003, Part 2
What about the example of Suspicions and Lies, Lies, Lies?
Having Suspicions in effect would *not* prevent a player from using Lies, Lies, Lies... because:
1. Suspicions does not stay in play (card text, see my previous rulings here)
2. Lies, Lies, Lies... only cares about cards you *currently* control.
Rules for 20 April 2003
[Ruins of Isawa Castle + Mercy Shrouds the Earth vs. Deadly Ground]
the meat of it is not whether the kiho destroys, cancels, or negates the terrain, IMO.
Correct. My comments about adding "negate" to the Archive was *not* actually the basis for my ruling (which I explained in an earlier post). That was just me musing that adding "negate" to the ruling would be a quick addition to the ruling that would settle arguments.
I'm sorry that I didn't fully explain the rationale.
Rules Question
Is that Weapon Token [from Soul Sword] an item?
Yes.
Otomo ambassadors and Shrines question.
I played Otomo ambassadors and give control of my shrine to daikoku to my opponent[.] in my following turn I revealed my dinasty cards I noticed that my other shrine of daikoku was in my provinces and I bring it to play, during his turn my opponent destroyed my Otomo ambassadors, and I ended up with [2] shrines of daikoku?
Because you cannot control two Shrines (card text), the one coming back will have to be discarded.
Rules for 14 April 2003, Part 2
Zen, can you explain then what it would be considered a legal shuffling of cards[...] if you can explain terms ass riffle shuffle, hard shuffle, it would be great.
The types of shuffles are not easy to describe in words. Try this website for pictures of the two major types of shuffles that people talk about, namely riffles shuffles and overhand shuffles. (It also shows the "Hindu shuffle," but that is for magic tricks.)
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood-Stage/2345/technique/howtoshuffle.html
A "hard" shuffle is not particular method of shuffling; it's just handling cards so roughly that they could be damaged.
Anything that leaves your deck so tha you cannot predict the order of cards (or card types) is a legal shuffle. That is, it puts your cards in random order. For example, shuffling Personalities in one pile, then shuffling holdings in another, then alternating them one after the other is *not* a legal shuffle because you know your cards alternate between Holdings and Personalities (even though you don't know which one exactly).
Riffle shuffles are widely considered the "best" method for putting cards in a random order. Research a few years ago suggested that at least 7 shuffles was needed to put a deck of 52 cards in random order (but not all mathematicians agree with that; it's an area of active research).
Overhand shuffles are considered inferior because cards tend to stay in groups, and cards next to each other are not as likely to be separated as with riffle shuffle. Overhand shuffles work, but you have to do many more of them to get a random distribution.
Unfortunately, someone who wants to cheat can do so with any shuffling method. :( Cutting decks after shuffles is a good thing.
Sunda Mizu Dojo question
I Sunda Mizu Dojo Isawa Sayuri. She will die, because she now has zero Chi. Does she die before she is dishonored or after?
Effects resolve in the order printed. Before.
Can Balance of Nothingness stop retirement when it effects more than one person? what about only one?
*If* they were bowed before the event resolved, yes, because Balance in Nothingness says to play with in response to something "targeting one or more of your bowed Personalities."
After a deck has been shuffled and/or cut by my opponent can I then cut and/or shuffle my deck?
No. Kind of defeats the point.
Imperial Messanger, again
Is playing an action from a card, playing an action?
No. That's not a case of a *player* playing a card (card text). It's a case of a Personality performing an action. (Fall of Otosan Uchi rulesheet)
(Why the *&%*$#! does everyone suddenly care about Imperial Messenger so much?)
Ruling Conflict (Hoshi Tadao ruling vs. Show of Good Faith ruling)
Don't these two rulings directly contradict each other?
No. Show of Good Faith has no *explicit* directions on what to do at a given time; Hoshi Tadao does. Also, the Show of Good Faith ruling is in line with a long standing ruling that a swapped card in the discard pile stays where it is when the end of control effect ends.
Zen Faulkes! * Crab Clan Scholar * Veteran