Rules for 27 November 2003

Greetings,

Two Defend Your Master Questions

Are Winds considered cards now?

Have been for about a year and a half.

If an opponent issues a Stand or Run challenge and you have Defend Your Master in play, must you select the duel?

No. The option presented isn't "stay or go," it's "accept or refuse."

Hiruma Ashishei with the dark covenant

does this mean that a Hiruma Ashishei with a Dark covenant can be an unlimited source of rallying cries?

Isn't that what I said?

Feign Death Question

I can use Feign Death in reaction to another players personality dying correct?

Guess so.

RULES questions

Do Dragons (not Dragon Clan) count as creatures?

Only if they have the trait printed on them.

Do they count as nonhuman?

Only if they have the trait printed on them, or a trait that implies nonhuman status (Diamond rules, pg. 65).

What counts as "a face-up card?"

A card that isn't face down, in your hand, or in a deck.

i.e. can Omen target a Shadowlands card already in play, or only a Shadowlands card in a Province?

I won't answer the specific question (preview card), but will refer you to Diamond rules, pg. 55, which might give you the answer.

Rules for 26 November 2003

You can only gain honor [for hiring Personalities during the Dynasty Phase[.]

What about if Feign Death is played during the Dynasty Phase[?]

No; you're not "hiring" a Personality (Rules Archive, Entering play).

Question on the New Unicorn Stronghold

Since it would appear that questions are being answered about RoB again, could we get a clarification on Iuchiban and Vigilant Witch-Hunters?

Not from me. Not yet.

Question on the New Unicorn Stronghold

what about the low honour clans? Crab and Shadowlands are languishing near the bottom; so is Scorpion[.]

I cannot help but notice the convenient omission of Mantis.

Could it be that most often going second is that big a disadvantage? Is it that the high honour clans tend to control the Favour? That they can more readily switch between honour and military victories? Something else? There would appear to be a problem with low-honour clans, no?

I am not convinced that being a "low honor clan" is itself some insurmountable structural problem. It is one aspect of a more complex picture, which is going to differ for each clan. (As the old saying in science goes, "For every complex problem, there is a simple solution -- and it's wrong.")

I suspect the problem for those three clans relates to their traditional strengths, some of which were removed in the Diamond environment. For instance, Shadowlands lost free gold, Scorpion lost dishonor tools, and Crab lost action denial in battle. Yes, you can argue that other clans lost those things too, but there are reasons to think those meant more for those particular clans.

For instance, one of Crab's traditional strengths has been high printed force. But in Diamond, an opponent can just keep taking actions, and so actions remove or nullify Personalities or units *regardless* of their force, so the loss of battle action denial is a bigger deal for Crab than other clans.

If Scorpion, Shadowlands, and Crab are weak, then those clans need cards that will preferentially benefit them, not all "low honor clans" in general.