post for 8 May 2003

Jeff questions

Is playing Kanak's Bane with Bayushi Sharaku considered discarding him from your province?

No. The cards are put at the bottom of that player's deck, not discarded.

Keen eyes will NOT stop a balance in nothingness canceling a duel targeting one of my bowed peeps correct?

Correct. Keen Eye is playable only "during" the challenge or duel

post for 7 May 2003

I'd also like to draw your attention to the situation of Soshi Aki being stolen with Show of Good Faith and being shuffled into her current controller's deck via her ability. It would seem that GE pg 39 applies in this case also, but where is she returned to when the turn ends?

She is not returned anywhere. If I steal her and she dies or gets reshuffled, I can no longer return control of her to you because I don't control her anymore. Some other effect has come along and changed her state further.

Jeff to take this to a conclusion... in the above example with the personality shuffled back into your deck, are you still prohibited from declaring attacks?

No. You do not control something that isn't in play. [H&E rulesheet]

post for 7 May 2003

Continuing with my obvious questions, but I want to be clear.

Just to check: Can I target a 5 chi personality with Kolat Assassin? "Destroy a Personality with under 5 Chi." No. Five is not under five.

OK. Would the same be legal with a ranged attack? Didn't find anything on the rulings, and the (online) rulebook says that if the RA is lower than the force nothing happenes.

Ranged attacks can be aimed at any card regardless of Force; they only destroy it if their strength meets or exceeds that Force. [GE p. 63] This is true because that's how the rules on ranged attacks are worded, not because L5R defines a number to be always "less than" itself.

An honest question

Don't get me wrong, I love it, but why do only the Crab have the [Yu] trait in any large quantities?

Because it is a defining characteristic of the Crab, something they do better and more often than any other clan. Because the Crab have been one of the weaker factions in the Gold environment. Because we have steered Crab away from their fortification/defensive flavor and needed to replace it with something.

Second, the Crane.

I don't see any questions here.

Third, the Shadowlands.

Ditto.

Finally, (and thank you to all of you who have not decided to kill me out of hand, or duel me for the honor...) the Lion. With the high gold costs and high honor requirements...and a 3-gold stronghold...this means that next to none of the current Lion personalities will play off the Stronghold. Compare this to the Crane, where I can build a deck in which half the personalities will play first turn out of the Stronghold alone...

By my count, Shiro Matsu / Ancient Halls has four. Iron Fortress has five; Kosaten Shiro and most other Crane Strongholds also have four. They ALL have two or three who do not have stats or abilities that work well for the types of decks those clans typically build.

A few questions

which of the following are considered "Naga" cards? (if any) Ancient Armor of the Qamar The Isha's Yumi

Neither. A "Naga card" is a card with the word "Naga" in its title or boldface traits area. [GE p. 33]

If you are dueling a personality (let's say, with three chi) and you Poisoned Weapon them, thus bringing their chi to zero, does Kharmic Strike still resolve?

Kharmic Strike resolves as soon as it's revealed, but it has no effect until the time the winner and loser are normally determined and the results of the duel are applied. Since this is after Poisoned Weapon kills one duelist, you never get to that stage.

If you Overwhelmed Ashura, and they opt to send two units home, thus no defenders are in the battle anymore, can you still use its ability to kill a follower or peep with no followers in that battle? Which one would resolve first?

The death from Ashura dying happens before the effects of Overwhelmed on the opposing army.

Are bent cards, or cards with old sleeves considered marked?

If they are distinguishable from the rest of the cards in the deck, yes.

Can you ask the TO to inspect a deck that has either bent or old sleeves to make sure that they aren't marked? Can you have the player with such cardsfix the problem? I.E. unbend their cards, replace the sleeves? If so, what would happen if they refuse to so so?

Yes and yes. If the Tournament Organizer determines that the cards are distinguishable enough to be considered marked, the player must correct the situation or face disqualification.

Can you use the Anvil of despair with Kokujin's Daisho, killing two personalities, and add both of the personalities force and chi bonuses to it?

Yes.

If you attack a Hellbeast to a cavalry personality, and they lose the cavalry trait, does it cancel BOTH traits at the same time?

Yes. Traits are either present or they're not -- a card cannot have a trait twice. Giving a trait to a card that already possesses it does not make it extra resilient against effects that remove the trait later.

Why are most of the shrines in H&E rare and non-unique?

They aren't really non-unique. Having them in your deck in multiplicity does not give you the kind of benefit it does with, say, Jade Works. This was done partially to appease playtesters (who didn't want them to be fully Unique) and partially so that players would feel less of an obligation to track down three copies.

Pragmatically, H&E has four Uncommon one-per-deck Dynasty cards: three Events and a Unique Region. The Events could not be moved, for two reasons: we do not make ALL the Events in a set Rare, and we do not put Rare cards in the pre-built sections of Clan Decks (these three Events all appear pre-sorted). So, at most one of those rare shires could have been swapped, with the uncommon Plague Marsh.

Does Chaldera bow a shadowlands personality even though that personality has followers? Relevant text: Battle: Once per battle, bow an opposing Personality with less force who either has no unbowed followers or has the Shadowlands trait.

Chaldera can bow an opposing Personality who A) has less Force than Chaldera, and B) either has no unbowed Followers or has the Shadowlands trait. [card text]

So, yes.

Along that same line, can snakey boy bow a shadowlands personality regardless of force or followers? Just asking because it's worded kinda vaguely.

No, he can't. I don't see any way of parsing the sentence that yields that interpretation. "Bow a Personality with X who either Y or Z."

Can a Shadowlands player running the Shadowlands Horde run Alliance in their deck?

Yes.

Can you play Judgement of Toshiken to cancel the reaction of Tsutomo no Shiryo changing the duel to one of personal honor?

Yes. The MRP of Judgement of Toshiken says, among other things, "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." This will override Reactions and other effects that change what stats the duel is based on to something other than those required by the card that created the duel.

Timing of destruction - Shiba Takeishi

Can Shiba Takeishi gain a bonus from his own destruction?

No.

So the question is, are cards removed from play immediately after they are destroyed or immediately before? I assume the former?

A card being destroyed is not still in play while being destroyed.

Question for Jeff

If I am playing the stronghold: The Dark Path of Shadow and I play " Toturi is Drugged " which is a ninja open: action, do I lose the 2 honor?

Toturi Is Drugged is a Ninja card. [GE p. 33] You do not lose honor when you play it using the Dark Path.

Story Results

Jeff, I'm curious...do the aggregated results from Organized Play get factored in? For instance, Tsudao is (or was, last time I checked) the most popular Wind choice. Crane had the greatest win percentage. And so on. Do these results get used for anything in the storyline?

Sometimes.

Alliance - Shadowlands

Can I choose the Shadowlands when I resolve Alliance? Rulebook: "Cards that refer to Factions or Faction alignments refer only to those in this list." -Shadowlands are in this list. But "The Shadowland Faction does not have a trait that signifies alignment(...)."

Please, I need a quick answer.

You may choose the Shadowlands Faction when you resolve Alliance. However, because there is no trait that means, "This card belongs to the Shadowlands Faction", no Personalities will ever gain the benefit of Alliance's 2g discount.

questions

1.) Which of the following can I use Imperial Messenger against?

a.) someone bringing The Maw or other personality with associated honor loss into play b.) someone bringing a corrupt holding into play c.) someone bringing an Oni into play with I Give You My Name if the oni has an honor loss associated with it d.) Shosuro Yudoka's honor loss

All of them.

In short, does bringing a Dynasty card into play count as "playing a card" for the purposes of Imperial Messenger?

Bringing a Dynasty card into play counts as playing a card. Period.

And what about Suspicions? Can I hit that every turn with Imperial Messenger, or just the turn it shows up, or not at all?

Events are not played. They do not enter play unless the Event itself says so (and very, very few of them do). Imperial Messenger typically cannot be used on one. It cannot be used on Suspicions.

2.) I seem to recall that if I take control of a Spawning Ground player's goblin or oni personality, they don't lose the Force and Chi bonus because "your personalities" refers to personalities owned rather than controlled. Does this also apply to the bowing ability of a Scorpion personality owned by a Yogo Towers player? The text would seem to indicate so.

"Your Personalities" means only those controlled by you, which is automatically restricted to those in play as well. This is the current definition of "your" [H&E rulesheet]. Scorpion Clan Personalities do not have the Yogo Towers ability while they are not in play or if they are stolen by a non-Yogo Towers player.

The MRP of The Spawning Ground works differently because it does not use the term "your". It gives the bonus to all relevant cards that you "own", which has a different definition: in your deck when the game started. [GE p. 75]

3.) An argument we were having the other day: can I Tireless Assault to straighten a Personality that is being Ambushed, because the battle isn't taking place at a Province? Is that Ambushed peep considered to be "at home" for the purposes of Tireless Assault?

Personalities in an Ambush battle are not in their players' homes. A card cannot be in battle and home at the same time.

4.) If Shosuro Furuyari, Togashi Mitsu, Ikoma Sume, Shiba Yoma, and Yoritomo Aramasu were playing poker, who would win?

The house.

Question on Ring Timing

Exactly what is the timing on playing a Ring? Are Rings played as reactions?

They have the same timing, effectively, although they are not Reactions (and thus not actions).

question

A Dishonored Personality plays Iaijutsu Art against one of my personalities, he wins the duel, can I Stole the gain with Wind's Truth before he becomes rehonored?

No.

Goblin Sneaks

Hi again A question about Goblin Sneaks -Follower. Do I lose Honor (again -for bringing to play), when I choose to return them to play?

Yes. Entering-play effects on a card happen each time the card enters play.

Heaven and Earth Ancestors and Uniqueness

Does that mean that these "new breed" of ancestors are not so restricted.

If the card does not say so, then, no, it is not restricted.