Rules for 10 November 2003, Part 2

Greetings,

Dark Soul Mask

Does 'permanently' refer to the fact that [Dark Soul Mask] stays on past the turn or that it can't be moved off this personality for the rest of the game?

The former (Diamond Edition rules, pg 70).

Rules Confirmation (JEFF)

I seem to recall that when the Diamond rule changes were posted on the L5R website that the rule of "bowed personalities cannot issue challenges" was followed by "unless the challenge was created by another player's card or stronghold effect". I glanced through the Diamond rulebook & couldn't find the second part.

It's not there. Strictly speaking, it doesn't *need* to be there, because the Diamond rulebook uses the term "perform." A Personality can only perform an action initiated by its controller (Diamond Edition rules, pg. 71).

That said, I think the new rule is needlessly... subtle. One of the who points to changed the rules was that too many people got confused about "You can't target your own bowed cards *with your own actions*," and there were recurring questions about, "Can I pick a bowed guy when forced to target someone because of by my opponent's action?"

I fell into the exact same trap that the Diamond rules were trying to get rid of. :( And like everyone else, I fell into the trap of thinking, "I know the gist of the rule. Bowed Personalities can't challenge."

The FAQ explains this better. I'm hoping the next rulesheet will have something like the FAQ entry on it.

Q: Contested Holding

Is Contested Holding considered a Holding for cards like Trading Grounds and Kakita Hirotada?

No. Card types are reserved game terms.

exist in somewhere a complete list of 'reserved game terms'?

No. They'll change as the game does (e.g., "Wind" wasn't a reserved term until Gold). If in doubt, just ask. We'll answer. :)

Temple of the Ninth Kami Question

Is this an intentional distinction/change, or is Zen confused? =p

I'm frequently confused. :) Seriously, though, I'm being forced to relearn the Diamond rules, just like everyone else.

Flee the Darkness question

Under the new way of Flee the Darkness, I think it would only target the personality.

Correct. It cannot cancel actions that target attached cards. Note that anything targeting a unit always targets a Personality.

Contingency Plans + Gifts and Favors

If Contingency Plans is in effect, it takes a stronghold and one gold to fetch a Gifts and Favors, right ?

No. Gifts and Favors isn't in play when its ability is used (card text).

Feign Death + Wedge

Can I reanimate my personality targeted with Wedge by using Feign Death when it dies due to Wedge effect ?

No.

Temple of the Ninth Kami - Question 2

If [Temple of the Ninth Kami] targets a dishonored personality, is the personality able to refuse to issue the challenge again?

Yes.

Feign Death + Wedge

I would think "when the battle ends" is not the same as "after the battle ends" but in Zen's archive it reads: "The unit is destroyed immediately after the battle is over regardless of whether it is still in the army. [Card text]"

But I would think that things which occur "when" the battle ends actually take place before anything "after" the battle.

This is just another ruling that needs to be tweaked slightly to reflect the Diamond wording. The basis of the ruling was just that if the unit gets sent home or moves to another battle, yes, you still have to destroy it.

Seriously, folks, take archived rulings about cards that just got reprinted in Diamond with a few grains of salt. As much as I have tried to get things up to speed, there are going to be minor little out-of-date things for some time.

Rules Questions for Zen and/or Jeff

Can a ranged attack targetting chi be used to target a follower[?]

Yes.

If so, what happens? Does the follower die?

Yes.

Can a ranged attack targetting chi be combined with a range attack targetting force?

Yes. In that case, because combined Ranged Attacks acquire special characteristics of the components (Diamond Edition rules, pg. 90), the Ranged Attack would just target Chi.

A ranged attack (or other specific targetted action such as the ratling follower destruction, mantis bushi etc...) is targetting a follower. Can a "flee the darkness" be played to cancel it?

No (card text).

Tactical actions on bowed tactitions

I'm uncertain about using tacitical actions on a bowed tactition.

Legal, unless it's printed on the Tactician Personality.

Dark Soul Mask

Apologies to Zen for answering this. I thought this was a Reign of Blood preview card for some reason. (He loves answering questions. He really does.)

Though it does pale next to ice cream.

Rules for 10 November 2003

can Chithith (KYD Ratling) now attach and cast spells even without a ratling follower?

Yes.