Q The Ambition's Debt rulebook says you don't lose from Dishonor until you start a turn at -19 or less. My the change?

A: It's not a change. It's an error. Dishonor is still an immediate elimination.

Q When do I start applying the +1/+1 bonus from the Spawning Grounds and the Shadowlands trait from the Kitsu Tombs? Which cards do they affect?

A: These effects are continuous and apply to all appropriate cards on your side of the table - in your deck, Provinces, discard pile, etc. as well as in play. They are not just applied once, at the start of the game; cards which change controller will gain or lose these changes.

Q About Touching the Void Wow! Is this for real? just play it to draw four more cards, and only hurt my hand size if it's empty?

A: In a word: no. This card is poorly worded. Your hand must be empty to produce both effects.

Q Would Yoritomo Furikae return to play if he's killed by something like a ranged attack? And does he return still in the battle or back in my fief?

A: Furikae returns if he's "destroyed IN a battle", so, yes, that would include ranged attacks and such (if he had said "BY a battle", the answer would be different). He returns to play back in your fief.

Q Can I make multiple copies of an opponent's Unique region with Exile's Road?

A: Yes.

Q If I'm playing The New Akasha and I turn up a dualaligned Crab/Naga Personality, am I allowed to forego his honor and buy him for 2g less, or would that be a cost reduction and be prohibited by the clause about Crabs not having their costs reduced further?

A: You can pay 2g less. You're not reducing the cost, you're only paying part of it. You can buy Hida Yakamo Exp3 for 12g if you don't want to gain his honor.

Q Speaking of Iakamo, he has the printed Naga trait now, so he's Nonhuman, right?

A: Right.

Q. If I play At'TokTuk Sensei, do Ratling Personalities gain my clan affiliation?

A: They don't actually gain any traits. "Ratling" does not become fully equivalent to your Clan's trait, either. Only effects that look for a generic "your clan" affiliation will se them as belonging to you.

Q Well that's annoying. But, hey, if I'm a Shadowlands player, I can finally start buying Personalities cheaply or for honor!

A: Nope. Evil never gets a break. Check out this line fron the "Clan Affiliations" section of a Pearl Edition or later rulebook: "The Gold cost reductions and Honor bonuses ft bringing in members of your Clan do not apply if you ar( a Shadowlands player."

Q Okay now. 7his Plague of Locusts event. Will it just destroy Holdings with a printed cost of 0 or will it also kill ones whose costs were reduced?

A: If it's gold cost was 0 for whatever reason when it was brought into play, it's bug food.

Q What about 0-cost holdings that I purposely spent gold on anyway?

A: Gourmet bug food.

Q Will Fallen Lion Fortress cause 6 or 12 points of honor loss to a player who's both playing Lion and has brought ot Shadowlands cards?

A: Only 6.

Q Does being Undead make you automatically Nonhuman:

A: No.

Q What, exactly, does Judgement of Toshiken negate?

A: It negates reactions to the challenge or duel or to anything that happens during them. It negates any special effects of focussed cards, such as Strike of Flowing Water, Kharmic Strike, and Burning Your Essence. It negates effects that alter focus values or Chi during duels, such as Lord Moon's Blood, Ambition, and the Double Chi trait. It does not negate any effects which existed prior to the challenge, such as the +1C from Oath of Fealty or the +1 focus value from Touch of Amaterasu. It does not negate reactions that never affect the outcome of the duel, such a Feign Death and One Koku.

Q I presume Iasuki Taka's Experienced 2 form shares his Experienced version's restriction that he doesn't affect Holdings that can pay an unlimited amount for things.

A: You presume correctly.

Q There's something funny with the rules on lobbying. They say that if my lobbying is contested for any reason, I have to beat everyone else~ honor to get the Favor. That part is clear. Now here~ the problem. If my lobbying is contested because someone else has the Favor already, it's that player whose honor gets increased by lobbying efforts opposing mine. But that player isn't necessarily the one my honor gets compared to at the end

A: You're right. That doesn't quite mesh. The lobbying efforts of players opposing you always add to the player whose honor you're trying to exceed, which is always the highest player other than yourself

Focus on... the Elemental Rings

You must have all five Rings in play together to achieve an Elemental Victory. Merely playing all five at some time during the game is insufficient. (The rulebook presents several slightly conflicting accounts of this rule.)

How a Ring got into play is immaterial. Effects which put a Ring into play without technically "playing" it, such as the Finding the Harmony kiho and House of Tao stronghold, are perfectly valid.

The Rings are no longer Action Cards, as per p. 11 of the Ambition's Debt rulebook. They are their own card type. Furthermore, as official Errata, playing and using them are also no longer Reactions (although they are no different timing-wise).

Focus on... Family Names

Only names of an actual, most likely Rokugani, line, such as Hida, or Agasha, or Daidoji, can be chosen as a family name. You cannot pick the first word out of just any card's title.

A family can be as small as one person. (Examples: Miya, Naka).

Families can span multiple clan alignments. All Bayushi are the same family, as are all Moto.

Races and creature names don't count. "Ninja", "Naga", "Ratling" "Mujina" and "Oni" (and "Oni no") are all illegal choices for a family name.

A Personality with a one-word name cannot define a family name, but will be a member of that family if it's a valid family due to other cards. There is a "Hitomi" family, so Hitomi is part of it, but Sanzo is just Sanzo.

Focus on... Sensei

You cannot voluntarily discard a Sensei or play a Sensei once the game begins without the use of a card effect.

As a new rule, Sensei cannot reduce Starting Honor below -19 or reduce Gold Production or Province Strength below 0. Strongholds with a -19 Starting Honor may begin the game with an Honor-reducing Sensei without immediately losing. Once the game begins, they may still freely play such Sensei because changes to Starting Honor do not affect current Honor. (The reduction in the Stronghold stat is not considered an honor loss, as was previously ruled.)

Focus on... Action Traits

There's been a slight change in how to determine what traits an action carries. As of now, traits are normally determined solely by the card that the action's text is on. ff an action is not actually on a card, it does not acquire any traits from any cards involved in performing it. Actions added to a card via copying or by an effect such as The Yogo Towers count as being "on the card" This is a partial REVERSAL of the ruling in the last Imperial Herald

Some examples of actions which no longer take traits from the performing cards are discarding for a Tactician force bonus, attaching a card from your hand, and lobbying for the Favor (though this is still Political by the rulebook).

Reprintings

Arrows From the Woods: gold cost is 0, not 7 Kitsu Okura has a Minimum Honor of 0 once again. Pitch and Fire: makes "two" attacks now instead of "2'.

Errata

Tunnel System (foil): gold cost is still 2, not 7
Festering Pit of Fu Leng (foil): gold cost is still 2, not 7
Bakeneko: its action is usable once per battle.
Hirariko Exp: her action is usable once per battle.
Hida Amoro Exp2: has the Shadowlands trait.
Dead Eyes: the reduction to 0 Personal Honor is permanent.
Yukai no Junzo: counts as Yogo Junzo for Uniqueness.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com