User talk:Chrisf

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Testing better organization

Cardinal rules
These cardinal rules say which rules, text, and card versions should be followed.
[edit] Cardinal Rule 1

Cards vs. rules: If the text of any card contradicts these Comprehensive Rules, follow the card text, not the rules. Something that changes one aspect of a rule does not by itself change any other aspects of the rule.
Example: an effect that lets you make a Ranged Attack against a card in a player’s home only changes the rule that the target of a Ranged Attack must be in the current enemy army; it does not change the rule that the target of a Ranged Attack must be a Follower or a Personality without Followers.

[edit] Cardinal Rule 2

Cards vs. cards: New versions of cards with a given title may sometimes be printed, and L5R is printed in several languages. If different printings contradict each other, follow the most recent English-language printing of the card.
EXCEPTION: When references to the same or different “printings” of a card are made, these override Cardinal Rule 2. See Glossary, Printing.

[edit] Cardinal Rule 3

Rules vs. rules: If the text of any other rules document (such as the rulebook or rulesheet in starter boxes) contradicts these Comprehensive Rules, follow the most recent online version of the Comprehensive Rules.

Back to the Comprehensive Rules

The Player
==The player==

1 Player keywords, abilities and values
2 Winning and losing the game
3 Turn order
4 Construction of the play deck

[edit] Player keywords, abilities and values

[edit] Clan alignment

A player’s Clan alignment, for example “Scorpion Clan” or “Unicorn Clan,” is the same as his or her Stronghold’s.

A player using an unaligned Stronghold (one with no Clan alignment) has no Clan alignment, and specifically does not have the same Clan alignment as Personalities with no Clan alignment.

Effects that say “You are an [X] Clan player.” give the player that Clan alignment.

Legal Clan alignments in Samurai Edition are:

Crab Clan
Crane Clan
Dragon Clan
Lion Clan
Mantis Clan
Phoenix Clan
Scorpion Clan
Spider Clan
Unicorn Clan

Other Clan alignments given by card effects only exist in games where those card effects apply.
Example: Shiro Usagi (The Truest Test) is an unaligned Stronghold that gives the Hare Clan alignment to its player and certain Personalities, but Hare Clan is not a Clan alignment in games where this stronghold is not in play.

[edit] Family Honor

A player’s Family Honor, or Honor for short, represents the respect and integrity he or she is seen to have in the Imperial Court. It may rise and fall over the course of the game. A player is responsible for keeping an accurate record of his or her Family Honor that the other player can check. Players may also confirm their opponents' Family Honor by keeping their own record.

A player’s starting Family Honor is taken from his or her Stronghold's Starting Family Honor stat.

Family Honor is a numerical value that follows different rules than card stats. Family Honor may have a negative value. Also, because Family Honor is marked in the game, changes to it do not have a duration; they are instantaneous.

When an Honor gain or loss is itself reduced or increased by another effect, the reduction or increase is not counted as an Honor gain or loss. This is different from what happens with card stats in this situation. [ADDED 20 May 2008]

Reduction of an Honor gain cannot turn it into a loss, nor can reduction of a loss turn it into a gain; the minimum value of a gain or loss is zero. Losses are expressed in positive numbers even though their ultimate effect is to reduce Honor. [ADDED 20 May 2008]

An Honor gain of 0 points is not considered a gain for things that check whether a gain happened. Likewise, an Honor loss of 0 points is not considered a loss for such things.

References to "points of Family Honor" indicate a positive Family Honor value. (Added 1 October 2007)
Example: House of the Fallen Blossom, which produces "1 Gold for every full 10 points of Family Honor you have," does not produce any gold when you are at -10 Family Honor.

[edit] Player Abilities

Players may gain abilities from effects. The following is a reminder list of the abilities players start the game with. For more details, see Equip, Share, Lobby, The Imperial Favor, Tactician, Naval, Seppuku, and Legacy.

Limited: Any number of times per turn, target one of your Personalities: Attach a target attachment card from your hand to him (paying all costs).

Political Limited: If you have a higher Family Honor than all other players, bow one of your target Personalities with Personal Honor of 1 or higher: Take control of the Imperial Favor.

Political Limited: Discard the Imperial Favor and a card: Draw a card.

Open: Bow one of your attachments: Transfer it to another of your target Personalities who can legally attach it.

Political Battle: Discard the Imperial Favor: Move a target attacking enemy unit home.

Tactical Battle: Any number of times per turn, discard a card and target one of your Tactician Personalities: Give him a Force bonus equal to the Focus Value of the discarded card.

Reaction: If you are the Attacker and your current army has more Naval cards than the opposing army, once per battle after engaging, target your Naval Personality: You have the first opportunity to take a Battle action, which must be performed by the targeted Personality or one of his Naval Followers.

[Naval ability UPDATED 28 June 2008]

Reaction: Any number of times per turn, before you lose Honor from an action that targeted or was performed by one of your Courtier or Samurai Personalities: He commits seppuku. If the seppuku destroyed him, reduce the Honor loss to one.

Reaction: After your Dynasty Phase ends, if you have brought no Holdings into play this turn, bow your Stronghold: Search your deck, then your Provinces, for a Legacy Holding. Put it into play without Gold cost.

[edit] Winning and losing the game

L5R has a number of different victory conditions that reflect different paths to mastering the world of Rokugan or eliminating other players from contention.

[edit] Honor victory

An Honor victory represents overwhelming political acclaim in the Imperial Courts. At the point when a player’s turn begins (that is, before anything triggered "after the turn begins"), if that player has 40 or more Family Honor, he or she wins through an Honor Victory.

[edit] Military loss/victory

A Military victory represents the destruction of an adversary’s last base of support. A player loses immediately after his or her last Province is destroyed (see Provinces), and is then eliminated from the game.

When two players are in a game (including the later stages of a game that started with more players), and one player loses this way, the last remaining player has won a Military Victory. This is considered a Military Victory even if the last province was destroyed by some other means than battle resolution.

[edit] Dishonor loss/victory

A player can lose by Dishonor, representing his or her faction becoming utterly discredited in the eyes of Imperial Courts. A player loses immediately and is eliminated from the game after his Family Honor reaches -20 or below. When two or more players are in a game and one player loses in this way, the one remaining player has won a Dishonor Victory. If two or more players lose through Dishonor from simultaneous Honor losses, the active player chooses who loses first; the last remaining player wins, even if he or she would lose immediately after.

[edit] Enlightenment victory

Enlightenment victory represents finding a path of insight beyond the material world, reflecting on one’s experience in war and peace through the philosophies of the Five Elements. A player wins immediately through an Enlightenment Victory when he or she has in play five Ring cards, each with a different element keyword, and each of which last entered play by its own text (as opposed to other effects that can put a Ring into play).

[edit] Other victory conditions

Cards in the game may give other conditions of winning or losing. Winning by one of these cards, or because one of them caused the last remaining other player to lose, is designated by the title of that card.

[edit] Player elimination

If a player loses the game and two or more players remain, all cards from the eliminated player’s play deck are removed from the game, all created cards under his control are removed from the game, all his remaining Provinces leave the game (without literally being destroyed), and he leaves the game. An eliminated player’s tokens that are still in play after this, as well as his created cards that are controlled by other players, remain in play. If an attacker is eliminated in the middle of a series of battles, the player to his left determines the order remaining battles will resolve in. Effects generated by eliminated players’ cards or actions persist for their normal duration. For effects that will end during some future turn of the eliminated player, end them after the previous remaining player’s turn and before the next remaining player’s turn.

[edit] Turn order

Turn order proceeds to the left. If no starting player is specified, it starts with the active player.

[edit] Construction of the play deck

The play deck consists of two decks – one of black-backed Dynasty cards, one of green-backed Fate cards – and a stronghold. These decks are constructed according to a format.

L5R has a standard competitive format, Samurai 40/40 (referring to current base set and the minimum number of cards in the Dynasty and Fate decks, respectively), and a number of alternate formats.

Unless format rules specifically state otherwise, all play decks must be constructed according to the following two general rules:

No more than three copies of any card of the other types, by card title, can be included in a play deck.
No more than one copy of each Event, Ring, and Unique card, by card title, may be included in the play deck.

EXCEPTION: Unique cards with the same title but different Experienced keywords count as different cards for deck construction.

If a card or card type “does not count against deck construction limits,” its existence in the deck does not count towards the minimum count required by the format. In practice this means the deck has to contain more cards than the stated minimum. In Samurai 40/40 format:

All cards in a play deck must be Samurai legal – their most recent printing must have the Samurai expansion symbol.
Older versions of cards reprinted with the Samurai expansion symbol may be used in a deck, but are always played by the stats and text of their most recent printing, following cardinal rule 2.
The Dynasty and Fate deck each must contain a minimum of 40 cards.

Alternate formats are listed under the Alternate Format Rules section.

Back to the Comprehensive Rules

Card types
==Card types==

[edit] Stronghold

A Stronghold represents a player's base of power. It is represented by a stronghold card, or an object incorporating a stronghold card. The Stronghold is part of the player's play deck but is not part of either the Dynasty deck or Fate deck and can not go in them. Whether a Stronghold card has a black or green back is irrelevant.

Effects, targeting and costs applied to "cards" do not apply to a Stronghold unless they specifically mention the word "Stronghold." However, Strongholds count as cards in all other ways.
Example: An effect that says: "Name a card. Abilities on cards with that title can not be used" does not apply to Strongholds because it is a non-Rules effect on the Stronghold.
Example 2: A Reaction trigger states "After an effect from another player's card targets one of your cards:" This can be used in reaction to another player's Stronghold effect because the Stronghold's effects come from a card. It can also be used in reaction to another player targeting your Stronghold, because the reference itself is not an effect, targeting or cost.

[edit] Using Strongholds

The Stronghold starts in play in a player’s home face-up.

[edit] Stronghold stats and characteristics

Clan alignment: The stronghold’s Clan alignment, which is also the player’s Clan alignment, is determined by the faction mon (circular symbol) in the upper right of the card.

A Stronghold without a mon is an unaligned Stronghold with no Clan alignment. Its player has no Clan alignment. Players, Strongholds, and Personalities with no Clan alignment do not have the "same" or "different" Clan alignment from each other, or from Players, Strongholds, and Personalities that do have a Clan alignment.

Province Strength: The Stronghold's Province Strength stat is found in the light colored lantern beneath the title on the right. It represents the strength of the existing defenses of the player's home lands.

When a province is created, either at the beginning of the game or in the course of the game, it has the base Province Strength of its player’s stronghold, with any modifications in effect at that time.

Gold Production: The Stronghold's Gold Production stat is found in the gold coin below the Province Strength lantern. It represents the starting wealth and influence of the player. When paying a Gold cost, a player may bow his Stronghold as a cost to produce Gold equal to the stronghold’s Gold Production.

Starting Family Honor: The Stronghold's starting Family Honor stat is found in the square white banner underneath the Gold Production stat. The player's Family Honor score starts at this value, with any modifications in effect at that time.

[edit] Events

Events, with bluish white card faces, represent unpredictable occurrences in the world of Rokugan. Events have no stats. They do not normally enter play.

[edit] Using Events

Events resolve during the Events Phase. They do not resolve just from being face-up during any other phase.

Events usually have a trait, which is treated as a triggered trait, even if there is not an explicit trigger.

When an Event resolves, it leaves the Province or other area from which it is resolving, a resolution area is created, and it goes there. Once in the resolution area, the Event's trait is triggered by the start of resolution. If conditions in the trait's constraints block (if any) are met, and costs in the constraints block are paid, then the effects of the Event resolve in order. [CLARIFIED Oct 4 2007]

The player for whom an Event resolves – that is, the "you" in the Event's effects - is the player whose Province it was revealed in. If the Event resolved from some other area, the Event resolves for the owner of the Event.

After an Event's effects resolve (even if they were negated), if it is in the resolution area, discard it. Then, if necessary, the province it came from is refilled.

The same event, by title, can only resolve once for any one player in any game. If it would resolve another time, discard it instead. This is not an effect on the card, but an effect on the game state; specifically, the game state remembers that an Event with that title has resolved for you even if the Event becomes face-down and out of play (see Tracking rule).

The same Event, by title, can resolve for more than one player.

Events are not optional; if revealed at a time when they would resolve, they must resolve.

If an Event enters play somehow, it enters play in your home.

[edit] Personalities

Personality cards have backgrounds of various colors according to their Clan alignment, and a circular frame within the borders of their illustration. They represent the leading characters of the world of Rokugan.

[edit] Personality stats

Personalities have Force, Chi, Honor Requirement, Gold Cost, and Personal Honor.

[edit] Using Personalities

Personality cards normally enter play during the Dynasty Phase. For them to enter play at any time, their Gold Cost must be paid.

A Personality normally enters play in his controller's home.

When bringing a Personality into play, a player follows this sequence:

A. The personality enters a specially created entering-play area.

B. The personality’s Honor Requirement and other restrictions on its entering play are checked. At this point, if the Personality is aligned to the player's clan and it is the player's Dynasty Phase, the player may waive the Personality's Honor Requirement and increase his Gold cost to enter play by 2. If these conditions are not met, the Personality card returns to where it came from and it does not enter play.

C. If requirements and restrictions were met in step B, the player pays the Personality’s Gold cost; if the Personality is aligned to the player's clan and it is the player's Dynasty Phase, the player may choose to pay 2 less Gold for the Personality. The player then pays any other costs of bringing the Personality into play.

D. If requirements, restrictions and costs were met in steps B and C, the Personality enters play.

E. The entering-play area ceases to exist.

Note that during the Dynasty Phase, special rules modify the Gold Cost and Honor Requirements of Personalities aligned with a player's Clan.

Personalities are the only kind of card that can have attachments or be dishonored.

[edit] Holdings

Holding cards have a blue-gray background, and represent a player's resources.

[edit] Holding stats

Holding cards have Gold Cost. A holding may also have Honor Production and Gold Production.

[edit] Using Holdings

Holdings normally enter play from Provinces during the Dynasty Phase. For them to enter play at any time, their Gold Cost must be paid. Holdings entering play exist in an entering-play area while their requirements are checked and Gold Cost is paid.

Holdings enter play in the bowed state, regardless of when they enter play.

[edit] Regions

Region cards have a light brown background, and represent geographical areas that define a player's Provinces. Region cards have no stats.

[edit] Using Regions

Regions normally enter play from Provinces during the Events Phase. They do not enter play just by being revealed in a Province at any other time.

Regions about to enter play exist briefly in an entering-play area, where their legality is checked. Regions that can enter play do so attached to the Province they were revealed in: normally, this is shown by putting the Region partway behind any card in the Province, with its title or text box showing. If an effect lets a Region enter play without being revealed in a Province, it may be attached to any Province unless effects specify otherwise.

A province can not have more than one Region attached. Regions that are about to enter play illegally are discarded instead.

Attaching a Region in the Events Phase is not optional. If revealed, it must attach if legal.

EXCEPTION: Attaching a Region with one or more costs is optional. If the Region's player can't or doesn't want to pay its costs when it would enter play, the Region is discarded instead.

If a province somehow has multiple attached Regions, the order in which they attached should be tracked, for example by stacking the later Regions in front of the earlier ones. If two or more Regions have conflicting effects on the same province (for example, if one says the province can hold one extra card, while the other says the province can hold no cards), the most recently attached region takes precedence over the earlier ones.

[edit] Action cards

Action cards have a red background, and represent one-shot strategies, intrigues, and feats.

[edit] Action card stats

Action cards have a Gold Cost and a Focus Value.

An Action card's Gold Cost is part of the base costs of each of its abilities. The number in the coin is not a separate cost of playing the Action card.

An Action card also has the keywords of all of its abilities.

However, keywords do not transfer laterally between abilities; so an Action card with a Political ability and a different Ninja ability can be referred to as a Political and a Ninja card, but the actions are not both "Political Ninja" actions. [CHANGED Jul 17 07]

[edit] Using Action cards

Action cards do not normally enter play. Instead, they are normally played from the hand for one of their abilities. Some Action cards may have special effects when the card is used for another purpose, such as focusing in a duel.

Some effects and conditions in the game may also allow Action cards to be played from areas other than the hand.

If an Action card is in play, abilities on the Action card may not be used while the Action card is in play, unless the card specifically allows this. Note that an ability granted to a player or card as part of an Action card's ability does not fall under this prohibition. [ADDED May 1 2008]

To play an Action card for one of its abilities, a player first checks whether it is a legal point in time to use the ability, and whether the action can otherwise be legally taken (including being able to met required costs, required targeting, and other restrictions). If these conditions are met, the player then follows this sequence:

A. The player puts the Action card face-up in a resolution area, which is created for that card.

B. The player announces which ability on the card is to be used. The action then proceeds (see Abilities and actions.)

C. After the action ends, the player discards the Action card, even if the action did not resolve. Then, the resolution area ceases to exist.

EXCEPTION: If the action's own costs or effects put the Action card into play, it is not discarded after the action ends. [ADDED April 25 2008]

[ADDED: Rules on playing from hand expanded, Sept 12 2007; rules further expanded to cover playing from other areas, March 30 2008]

EXCEPTION: Terrain Action cards follow different rules of play.

[edit] Rings

Rings, with a blue-black background, represent mastery of the insights of one of the five elements.

Each Ring enters play in a specific manner triggered by a game condition, as described in its text box.

Unlike an Action card, taking an action on a Ring with the cost of discarding the Ring is not “playing” it. Only putting the Ring into play counts as playing it.

[edit] Ring stats

Rings have a Focus Value.

[edit] Attachments

Fate cards that enter play by being attached to Personalities are known as attachments. Although each attachment is its own card type, they follow similar rules when entering play.

[edit] Using attachments

Attachments are normally attached in a player's Action Phase using the rulebook Limited action (see Equip) but can be attached through other effects.

A card attached to a Personality is placed underneath the Personality's unit, so that the attachment's title shows above the Personality card or the Personality's latest attachment card.

Attaching a card requires a selection of a Personality to attach to. Attachments may only enter play by being attached to a Personality. A player may only attach attachments to a Personality he controls in play.

To play an attachment card, a player follows this sequence:

A. The attachment enters a specially created entering-play area.

B. If the Personality being attached to has not already been designated, the player chooses a legal Personality for the attachment.

C. The player pays the attachment's Gold cost and any other costs of bringing it into play.

D. The attachment's restrictions on entering play are now checked. If restrictions and costs were met, the attachment enters play in the Personality's unit. If any restrictions or costs were not met, the attachment goes back where it came from; if the attachment came directly from a search of a player's deck, it is shuffled back into the deck.

E. The entering play area ceases to exist.

[Sequence CHANGED February 5 2008]

An attachment's Gold cost and other costs on the card apply separately to the act of attaching; they are not costs of the action or trait that allows attaching.

When a Personality leaves play, all his attached cards leave play in the same manner as he did. This leaving play is a rulebook effect contingent on the effect that took the Personality out of play, so the attachments are destroyed for" (as a consequence of) the original effect, but not "by" the original effect.

Attachments cannot be in play without being attached to a Personality unless an effect specifically allows this. An attachment that finds itself in play without a Personality (for example, one whose destruction was prevented but its Personality's destruction was not), and without an effect allowing this state, is immediately and continually discarded. [ADDED 26 Jul 07]

Once attached, an attachment remains attached while both the attachment and its Personality remain in play, even if changes to it, or to its Personality, mean it would no longer be legal to attach.

For other rules relating to a Personality and his or her attachments, see Glossary, Unit.

[edit] Followers

Followers, with a yellow-brown background, are attachments that represent military units commanded by a Personality and other members of his entourage.

[edit] Follower stats

Followers have Force, Honor Requirement, Gold Cost, and Focus Value.

Followers do not have a Chi or Personal Honor even though, for symmetry, their card has those graphic elements on it.

As an additional restriction on attaching, the Personal Honor of the Personality attaching a Follower must be equal to or greater than the Honor Requirement of the Follower.

Followers contribute Force to units in a special way. See Glossary, Unit.

[edit] Items

Items, with a gray background, are attachments that represent special objects in a Personality’s possession.

[edit] Item stats

Items have a Force modifier, a Chi modifier, Gold Cost, and Focus Value. Items add or subtract their Force and Chi modifiers to a Personality’s Force and Chi, modifying his stats directly.

If the Force or Chi of an Item needs to be checked, its value is the value of its corresponding modifier if it is positive, or zero if the modifier is zero or negative.

Force and Chi bonuses or penalties to an Item affect the modifier; for example, a +1F Item that suffers -2F now has a -1F modifier.

[edit] Spells

Spells, with a blue background (or greenish-black background for Black Scrolls), are attachments that represent magical scrolls cast by a Shugenja.

Spells can only attach to a Shugenja.

Actions on Spells attached to non-Shugenja Personalities can not be taken. [ADDED 16 July 2007 07]

A Spell card has the keywords of all its abilities. References to a "(Keyword) Spell" or more generally to a "(Keyword) card" also refer to a Spell which has that keyword on any of its abilities. Such a Spell is also counted as having the keywords of all its abilities for the purpose of things that count keywords, or check whether keywords are the same or different. [ADDED 17 Jul 2007]

Keywords do not transfer from one Spell ability to another. A Spell with an Earth ability and a different Fire ability counts as an Earth card as well as a Fire card, but the actions are not both "Earth Fire" actions. [ADDED Jul 17 07]

[edit] Spell stats

Spells have a Gold cost and a Focus Value.