Rules for July 25th, 2003

Hey kids. Last email before I leave for Gencon. Hopefully, my formatting issues have been fixed, although I think I've permanently lost all my old emails. :(

Second, can Chithith be in a ritual, i.e. Importune Kami?

No. Chithith is targeted by the Ritual. Technically, this also means that Chithith cannot cast Spells without a non-Ratling Follower attached, because Spells target their attached caster when they are used. Oh, those funky Gold targeting rules...

This was ruled the opposite way when Chithith came out. We were told that Kihos always target the caster but spells only target the caster when the spells say so.

I think that, since then, we realized that all attached cards implicitly target their holder when bowing the holder is a cost of the action on the attached card.

For example: if a Follower said, "Limited: Bow the attached personality to draw a card," that action targets. This is a simply extension of that ruling. Spells have no special rules granting them exceptions from the general targeting rules, so, an attached Spell that bows the caster as a cost targets the caster.

If this is the ruling it is a very large Reversal from Jeff's previous ruling.

Happens to the best of us.

Hi

In a recent game a friend tried to convince me he was correct in the following, can someone please clarify the following is NOT legal

I am attacking province A Ratling Defender has no personalities at province A, one personality at province B and a ratling shugenga in his feif

I am attacking province A and resolving that province, he said that even though he had no presence or relevance that he can discard a card from hand to give +1 to all rats (at province B as I was going to move and shoot his defender later). I thought this would be incorrect as he has neither presence or relavence but he said it was ok as it affected all rats.

Could I get a confirmation he is incorrect?

He is incorrect, you were correct. He has neither Presence, nor Relevance, and his action was illegal. He was probably thinking of the part of the Relevance rule that allows you to take non-targeted actions from cards not in the battle as long as they affect something that's in the battle. That does *not* apply in this case. He needs to have a Rat in the currently resolving Battle in order for that little clause to apply.

From www.dragonstrategy: Is this a valid combo?

Attach Void Tattoo to a personality with enough unit force to take a province. Attack province Go Home Use Tireless Assault to attack another province.

Tattoo of the Void says that this personality does not count as having a unit in the battle. Tireless Assault says that if the unit has not been in a resolution of a battle to straighten and move into the province. Does this work?

Dear Tattoo of the Void,

How I hate thee. Couldst thou not find a more obtuse wording to use in describing thyself? Be a dear, please scuffle off and shoot thyself at the earliest possible opporunity.

Thanks!

Anyways, I'm going to go with no right now. Tattoo of the Voids second clause is mostly relevant to determining Presence. The unit is actually there, and Tireless Assault can't be fooled into thinking that the unit was never there. Stop trying to fool the cards.

Hi all!

I have some questions: Would path o/t dragon star (Spell, unc, BB) make sure that I can play a sneak or use a scout when I used the PotDS on the barricades attached to the province I am attacking?

Absolutely.

Same question goes with targeting a Sorrow's path with PotDS.

I don't get it. How do Path of the Dragon Star, Scout/Sneak Attack, and Sorrow's Path interact? I hesitate to make such a broadly applicable ruling, but sure! Path of the Dragon Star will allow you to use a Scout/Sneak Attack after you've targeted a Sorrow's Path with it.

Also, how does Akasha's ranged 2 attack option work? If I give her the ranged 2 attack option during my limited, can I then proceed to attack, play a sneak, a blackened sky and use Akasha as my hot little ranged 2 machine gun? Could I go on using her ranged 2? Or is it once per battle? Does she needs to bow? It does'nt say so on the card, so I guess she's a machine gun... :)

From the Rulebook, pg. 63:

A card making a ranged attack must bow to do so, and suffer any consequences of bowing.

This applies even when it is not explicitly written, such as in Akasha's case. No hot machine gun action for you.

Jeff or any Rules Junta,

Hey, that's me!

Here's an interesting situation that cropped up in an Open game recently. My friend was playing his new Naga deck, while I was playing my Mantis Naval/RA deck. He had several Purusha in play, and I attacked with a Naval army. The Question is, when exactly does Purusha get to make her ranged 3 attack? Now, since my army was Naval, I got to make the first battle action. The options we saw that might be valid at the time:

1: Purusha makes her attack before my action. 2: Purusha takes her reaction after my action, but before his action (the first Defender action.)

In this specific case, Option 2. However, in the case that you were being attacked by an army with several Purusha, the answer is Option 3 - never.

Purusha's action is timed to take place before the Defender's first action. If there is a Naval Attacker, no Reactions can be taken before his first, Naval granted, action. However, Reactions (and traits) that are played before the Defender's first action can still be used after the Naval attackers first action, but before the Defenders first action.

If the *Defender* declares a Naval Invasion, however, then the clause prohibiting Reactions applies to his first action, which also happens to be the Defenders first action - locking Purusha out entirely.

Three things.

1. It was stated that if I play Stand against and two of your guys have Void Tattoos with no followers and two guys with followers and I do not play any cards to be able to target the Void Tattoos then it would still bow the Void guys because Stand reads if you can not bow enough people then everyone without followers bows (IE the two guys with Void Tattoos and no followers). So I was thinking that since Stand states that you must bow and because of Ishi stating he doesn't have to, that if you do not bow enough people that he would have to bow for the second part.

Ishi does not have to bow. He cannot be bowed by other players card effects. That extends to protect him beyond targeting.

2. If Ishi cannot be bowed because of Stand and you have two Ishis without followers, three guys with followers and another two without. I play Stand and I have 2 guys with followers could you say you were going to bow both Ishi's as the two peeps you had to bow, but not bow them because of his trait leaving all your guys unbowed.

Stop. Stand doesn't allow you to escape like that. If possible, you must perform as many of Stand's effects as you can. In this case, you have two Personalities who can legally bow. You must bow them.

3. if Imperial Funereal goes off and you may not bow Ishi because of my card is he automatically dishonored and you lose three honor.

He is automatically dishonored and you lose 3 honor. "Each player loses 3 honor for each of his unbowed Personalities who does not or cannot bow, and those Personalities become dishonored." Ishi falls into the "cannot bow" part of that.

Ok. Obsidian and Jade reads as follows:

Limited: Bow your Stronghold to permanently give one of your personalites the Shadowlands trait and a permanent Force bouns equal to the number of Shadowlands Personalities you control when Obsidian and Jade was played. For the rest of the game, that Personality cannot assign or move to a battle with other personalities, and other personalites may not assign or move to a battle with that personality.

Have there been any rulings on this card? It seems awfully powerful. Particulary so in the Diamond enviroment.

Assigning in opposition to is not "assigning with". Personalities are free to assign in opposition to an Obsidian and Jade-ed Personality. They just can't assign "with" him.

Another question on presence, exactly what does the phrase 'can be used at a different province refer to in toturi's grave region, what presence/relevance do you need.I was presuming it meant you could resolve the regions ability when you are the defender and a battle at another of your provinces is resolving and waives the presence requirement.

Can it be used while you are the attacker

Yes. Normally, actions on Regions can only be used during the Battle at the Province they are attached to. Toturi's Grave ignores that restriction, and can be used during a Battle at any province.

Example that someone has used here Crab have the region, and are attacking another player with 2 provinces, he assigns personalities only to attack province A, as does defender, nobody on either side in in province B He resolves province B first and claims to be able to play toturi's grave as it says can be used at another province to boost his followers at province A in advance of that battle resolution

Surely this can't be correct?

It's incorrect, but not because Toturi's Grave cannot be used during that Battle. He simply doesn't have Presence or Relevance to take that action. If he had Presence (a unit in the Battle) and Relevance (a Follower in that unit that would be affected by Toturi's Grave), the action would be legal, and would affect all of his Followers in Battle A as well.

I have a question about Yogo Tjeki. Can I use him against an player who has less than his starting honour or is that considered to reduce his honour under his starting honour?

No. Reducing someone from one number that is underneath their starting honor to another number that is also underneath their starting honor is still reducing them below their starting honor.

I am sorry if this question seems stupid, but as I am a naïve speaker it is possible for the language to fool me.

Two things:

1) There are no stupid questions. There are simple questions, but the only stupid question is an unasked one.

2) The cards are not trying to fool you. I can make no such promises about the English language, which is a nasty little schoolchild with a bag full of tricks.

That's it for me, kids! Have a good night, and I'll see some of you at Gencon on Saturday morning. Feel free to come up and say hi, offer to buy me drinks, give me cards...you know, whatever! ;)