Rules for 15 May 2004
A rules digest from the L5R CCG rules team, copied from the mailing list archive for Oracle of the Void. The askers' names are left out. Rulings are as they stood on this date; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
Your Rules for Saturday, May 15, 2004
Ikm'atch-tek question
With all the Ikm'atch-tek questions running around, can I use his ability if I have no ratling followers in my discard pile?
No.
As per page 72 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook, "Targeting and Redirection," Ikm'atch-tek targets the Follower he removes from the game. "An action targets something ... if any player sometimes has to choose what it affects."
As per page 73 of the DE Rulebook, same section, you can not take a targeted Actions if you lack a legal targets. Ikm'atch-tek requires two targets - a Ratling Personality and a Ratling Follower in your Discard Pile. If you are missing either or both of these targets, you can't take the action.
Rules 2 Questions
Ok Daigotsu Dojo gives one of my personalities -1 chi and he now has 0. My personality dies from a rulebook affect instead of from another players action? So it wouldn't help me play Legions Charge correct?
Yes. That's actually one of the problems with chi-loss - it side-steps almost all of the meta printed to balance the targeted destruction of Personalities and Units, while metagame cards against chi-loss are pretty worthless against everything else in the game.
Second if I play Temple of the 9th Kami and force my opponent to issue a challenge to one of my personalities and kill his personality, Whose action was it?
It was the Action of the person who played the ability - you. It is your stronghold with the words "Limited: If you control a Personality ..."
In other words could he play Legions Charge?
He certainly could.
Taut Bowstring
Also, this still leaves my question about Taut Bowstrings unanswered. Being an action card, you can play it outside of the current battle, even though it says "opposing," but if you do so, you now have the opportunity to make a ranged attack, which you can't do outside of the current battle, since ranged attacks can only target something opposing you. Which takes precedence? I'll be happy to provide an example if what I am asking is unclear.
I want to kick this around with the Rules Team a bit just so I don't mislead you on this. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Taut Bowstrings is rapidly catching up with Kuro's Fire on my list of "Cool card effects with mysterious / weird mechanics."
OK, that looks like everything from Saturday that wasn't addressed in-thread. If I missed your question, please repost it with the flag [RULES] in the subject line and I'll get back to you at the first opportunity.