Rules for 8 April 2004

Well, we're only one week away from the first Kotei of the year at the Polish American Club in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. I plan on being there. Jeff's scheduled to be there. Ray's scheduled to be there.

Will - you - be there?

Well, whether you'll be there or not, you need your Rules for Thursday, April 8, 2004.

Rend the Soul questions.

Rend the Soul reads: "Battle: Give one of your Personalities +5F. If that Personality's army wins this battle, this battle is tied instead. Your army cannot destroy Provinces this battle."

1) If I move the Rend'd personality to another battle, does the "win becomes a tie" clause follow them or stay with the army at the current battle?

"This battle" means the Current Battle.

The Current Battle is the one being resolved when Rend the Soul is played. It won't affect any battle at any other Province - so it won't "follow" the Personality in any way. It keys on "this battle."

2) If the personality is destroyed by some means (Overwhelmed, To Do What We Must, someone Peasant Vengancing my guy, Yoritomo Rui, etc.), does the "win becomes a tie" trait remain?

It isn't really a trait. It is an effect on the battle. This effect only cares about the Personality as a reference to which side it affects - Attacker or Defender.

Heck, the Personality could switch sides after Rend the Soul is played and take his +5 Force to the other team. The side he was on before is still the side that is stuck with the "win becomes a tie" effect.

Silly Kolat / Ninja players. Stop thinking bad things. You know who you are.

That's right, I mean you.

"Chagatai is not destroyed for having 0 Chi unless his Chi is 0 after all penalties that last until your turn ends wear off."

If my opponent is playing Unicorn, and I use a pair of "Written in Blood" kihos on Chagatai during my own Action Phase, does he die immediately? That -4C lasts until the end of *my* turn. Technically, there are no Chi penalties in effect that last until the end of *your* turn (referring to the owner of Chagatai).

Thanks!

- Brewing Tea

When cards refer to "you" they mean their controller in almost all cases. I don't see why Chagatai is any exception. Going by what is on the card, he'll only stay around if there is an effect that reduces his Chi which ends at the end of his controller's turn.

Does Flee the Darkness target the action it cancels? If yes, why?

thanks Andrew

Hm, that's actually a complicated question.

Going by the Rulebook, I'd have to say no. It doesn't actually Target the Action.

The reason why? There is never a choice involved in which Action to select once you've announced Flee the Darkness. There aren't any situations where two separate Actions are establishing their targets at the exact same time and you choose between them. There is only one valid option in any given timing window as far as I can see. Since you have to play Flee the Darkness immediately response to that trigger, there is never any choice involved other than when to play Flee the Darkness. Page 73 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook says:

"Deciding which Action to use or which card to play is not a targetting decision."

Flee the Darkness is still targetted, however, as it is a Kiho. It targets the caster.

Ieshige vs. Delayed Terrains

1. If my opponent plays Volcanic Fields, can I play "Flee the Darkness" to cancel the destruction of my personality when it resolves? I thought someone said you could, but I'm not sure if it counts as a "Battle Action" for the sake of "Flee"...

The destruction is an effect from an Action. It is targeted and another player is doing the targeting. You can cancel the whole thing with Flee the Darkness.

(Bonus question: If *I* play Volcanic Fields, does it change the above answer?)

No, another player is still doing the targeting of your Personality with the Action, and that's all Flee the Darkness cares about. (Card text)

2. If someone has Ieshige in the battle, does the resolution of the Delayed Terrain count as an "action" to give him +1F?

No. The Trait only triggers Ieshige when the Action is played. Volcanic Fields is the Action, and it is played way before it creates any effects, which are not themselves actions.

Tribute to Your House Question

I am at -8 honor, and my opponent is at -10. I want to send him a 14 point honor loss, but will die myself if I do so (using Kaukatsu). Am I correct in interpreting TtyH in such a way that I could play it, find myself back at 3 honor (out of the Shadowed Tower), and then make myself lose 14 honor and copy it to my opponent, without losing?

Actually, yes, it will effectively raise your honor to 3 by card text.

Then you'd have enough honor to get away with your Kaukatsu-bomb. Your opponent would drop to -24 and lose immediately. Assuming there are no other players left in the game, it would end with you as the winner by Military Victory well before the duration of A Tribute to Your House expired and you landed at -26 honor.

TtyH does not specificy that it will not effectively increase honor, though the "this is not considered losing honor" bit on it seems to imply that.

That's there to prevent you from redirecting or copying the net change in honor totals as a loss. I think you'd have to ask Jeff if it doesn't count as an honor gain either in that situation.

That looks like everything for this batch. If I missed your question and it wasn't related to Hidden City, please repost the question with [RULES] in the subject line and I'll get to it at the first opportunity.

Thanks,