Oracle of the Void

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ created by DJ Trindle
Maintained by Jeff Alexander


Below are printed only the most recent additions and changes to the L5R FAQ - we simply don't have room to print the whole thing.

Special thanks go out to Jeff Alexander, maintainer of the FAQ. Arigato gozaimasu!

New Additions to v3.4

Q: Will there be more L5R expansions after Time of the Void? I don't want to get involved in a game which is going to die in a few months.

    A: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Only the Clan War storyline will end at GenCon. LSR will go on, with further expansions covering other stories and segments of Rokugan's vast history.

Q: I've got a card that lets me make several consecutive ranged attacks. How does that work? Do I have to pick targets for all of them up front? Do my opponents gets actions in between them?

    A: Making consecutive rangged attacks works much like taking several Battle actions in a row (even though it technically isn't). Each shot is targeted and resolved one-at-a-time, but your opponents don't get actions between them.

Q: My opponent's Personallty just killed one of mine in a duel Shouldn't he bow now?

    A: Only if the action he used to issue the challenge says so. Issuing a challenge doesn't necessarily bow the challenger, nor do fighting or or winning a duel.

    These are the rules governing duels, unless a card says otherwise.

    The challenge may be refused. If it is, nothing happens. If it's accepted, theloser dies, and nothing at all happens to the winner.

Q. If someone focuses with the First Shout against me in a duel, I have to focus again. What if I can't?

    A: The answer is on the First Shout card! You only have to focus if you can. Sometimes, you can only focus with some of the cards in your hand When this happens, you pick randomly from just those.

Q: Do I have to play all my Shouts on one personality as either focuses or Battle Actions, or can I play some one way and some the other?

    A: You can mix them.

Q: Can I use the Monk Stronghold to phy the Ring of the Void from my Fate deck if my hand is completely empty?

    A: Yes. You can also use it in conjunction with cards that let you play a Ring by satisfying some other conditions. The idea behind the Brotherhood is that they can play a Ring from their Fate Deck as though it were in their hand, and this overrides phrasing that refers to a Ring being "in your hand" or being phyed 'from your hand'.

Q: Do Kihos played by Monks count toward the Ring of Air? The rulebook says Kihos are spell effects, but the Ring says you must produce three spell effects by using Shugenja

    A: Kihos count even when Monks use them. The Ring of Air will be reworded in future printings to avoid this conflict.

Q: Why aren't there any Personalities with the Brotherhood of Shinsei trait? I can't purchase anyone cheaply or for honor.

    A: Personalities with the "Monk" trait are aligned with the Brotherhood, and work just like native Personallties do for any other caln. There is no separate "Brotherhood of Shinsei" trait.

Q: So If I play Oath of Fealty in a Brotherhood deck, all my non- monks gain the Monk trait?

    A: Exactly. And to answer your next question, yes, this means they can start doing monkly things like using Kihos.

Q: But what about the opposite case: I play an Oath on some Monks in a Brotherhood deck? Do they LOSE the Monk trait? That doesn't seem right. "Monk" is a profession, like "Shugenja."

    A: With the release of Crimson & Jade, Monks work liek a clan Affiliation, so it will be stripped by swearing the Oath. Think of them as forsaking their ascetic ways to embrace their new clan's philosophies.

Q: So I guess Yoritomo's Alliance and Mantis Clan are equivalent too?

    A: Correct. Notice this works both ways. It's legal to do something like attach a "Mantis Clan only" card to a "Fox Clan - Yoritomo's Alliance" Personality for example.

Q: About this new "Foo Rule" on p. 30. Does this really mean there aren't any more Fu Leng cards? They're all titled Something ... Fu Leng, but we're supposed to ignore everything after the "of" on the card?

    A: Consider this offical errata to the rulebook: the new rule that you ignore word in the second half of a "Foo of Bar" phrase only applies when the phrase appears in the boldface traits use of a card. If it's in the book, every word counts, just like before. (This is fixed in the Obsidian rulebook.)

Q: The rulebook says token Followers also count as cards for purposes of being transferred or bowed figuring honor at the end of battle, and being affected by other cards Are there some obscure situations where they only count as tokens?

    A: No. Token Followers - and only token Followers - always count as both tokens and cards.

Q: What happens if more than one Event comes up in a turn? Do I get to pick the order they happen in?

    A: No, you don't You turn over Dynasty cards one at a Ume, from left to right Each Event is resolved as soon as it's revealed, before you even turn over Lhe next carte

Q: When do Dynasty cards normally get replaced?

    A: You refill a Province with your next Dynasty card as soon as it becomes empty, no matter what emptied it. If it's empty due to revealing an Event, refill it after resolving the Event.

    Overlaying Experienced Personalities (3 questions)

Q: What if the original is bowed? A: Overlaying isn't an "action" so you can still do it.

Q: Can Otaku Kamoko attach any of the Unicorn Clan Ancestors? She says she can't have infantry Followers, and none of the Ancestors have the Cavalry trait. But the rulebook says Ancestors don't act like real Followers most of the time. What's the answer?

    A: Kamoko cannot attach them Although Ancestors do break a b~ Follower rules attachment restrictions aren't one of them A~ay not change the Cavalry status of their unit but they are not~themselves, and Kamoko will not attach infantry.

Q: What if I put Mounts on her first?

    A: It won't help. Mounts affect Followers, so they won't affect Ancestors.

Q: I've used some actions to give my army Force bonuses in battle. How long do they keep these pluses?

    A: All card effects last until the end of the turn unless they say otherwise. This includes bonuses from Terrain.

Q: You mean if say, I'm defending, and use Dispersive Terrain to give every Personality in my army +2F, then I play Counterattack and attack my opponent back on that same turn, I have +2F on everyone? A: Exactly. Dispersive Terrain doesn't go away. The bonus wears off at the end of the battle, so it lasts for the rest of the turn.

Q: And the Matsu Gohei that attacked originally ("Gains a 2F bonus when attacking.") which my opponent: played Charge on ("Add a 3F bonus to one attacking Lion Personality") still has +5F in his defense? A: Only +3F actually. Gohei's built-in bonus is only active when "attacking" It continually checks whether Gohei is attacking and automatically turns itself on or off, depending. Charge, on the other hand, can only be played on someone who is attacking *right that moment*, but like Dispersive Terrain, it then lasts the whole turn.

Q: What if I have a dishonored Personality and I do something to increase his Personal Honor?

    A: It still counts as 0, because the Personality is still dishonored and you always apply the "dishonored means Honor = 0- rule" If you restore the Personal honorable status, you'll see your increase.

Q: Just ooooone more question on this fellow. The experience Togashi Mitsu has no fancy bowing restrictions, unlike the original. What if I overlay him? Those seem to be traits and you don't copy traits when you overlay.

    A: Those traits. are part of the original ability to gain fire tokens, and they all come with it. If you'll notice, it's all one sentence. An overlayed experienced Mitsu will bow and stay bowed just like the old Mitsu if he has any fire tokens, whether they're +1/+1 tokens from the old ability or 0/0 tokens from the new one.

Q: What if the spell always affects one thing, like, say, the player casting it? Can I use the Ring of Air to make it affect someone else?

    A: Go back and read p. 22 of the C&J rulebook. If you never have a choice as to what gets affected, then the spell doesn't have a target and you can't change what it wili affect.

Q: Can I lobby for the Imperial Favor on the same turn that I use it?

    A: Sure. You can even use it twice in one turn if you start with it from the turn before: use it once, lobby for it to get it back then use it again. The only thing you can't do in one turn is lobby twice.

Q: Can I lobby for the Favor If I don't have the highest honor, or if my Family Honor is below zero? A:,Yes, and yes. If you haven't already lobbied this turn and you can bow a Personality with a Personal Honor over zero (and you don't already have the favor, you are able to lobby.

Q: Kakiia Ichiro can lobby "even if you have already lobbied for the Favor once this turn." Does "once" mean "exactly once" or "at least once"?

    A: Ichiro can only give you a second lobby attempt. And the order is important. You can't use Ichiro first and then someone else second.

Q: The Experienced Hooded Ronin lets me bring out the Seven Thunders for free. Who are the Seven Thunders?

    A: Story-wise, the Seven Thunders are the spiritual descendants of the original seven Clan founders who imprisoned Fu Leng the first time he appeared. Game- wise, there aren't any...yet.

Q: A friend with very good connections says the Clan Thunder is going to be ____________.

    A: Don't believe him.

Changed in v3.4

Q: Can I ignore the special requirements on the Second and Third Shout by playing thern face-down as regular focuses?

    A: No. You can play them face-down as regular focuses if you want, but you still can't focus them out of order. These cards can be used freely for their focus values for other effects, like a Tactician's Force bonus.

Q: Can I overlay a Unique version of a Personality with a Unique, Experienced version?

    A: Yes. In fact, that's the only way you can put the Experienced one into play if the original is already out. You can't play it separately because of the Uniqueness Rule.

Q: Do I get honor for overlaying a Personality with her Experienced version? I'm paying the full price, which is zero.

    A: No. You're not hiring someone new.

Q: My opponent has a samurai with a Medium Infantry attached, which has a minimum honor of 1. What happens if I dishonor that samurai so that her Personal Honor drops to 0? Does the Infantry get destroyed?

    A: No. Once any sort of card or token has been legally attached to a Personaiity, nothing will make it "fall off." If you want to get rid of it, you have to destroy it directly.

Q: I'm targeting a 1F Personality with an effect that makes him lose 2F until the end of the turn. Does he have a OF of a -1F?

    A: OF. The only thing in the game that goes into negative numbers is Family Honor. You will have to compensate for the leftover -1F penalty if you want to increase his Force later this turn, though.

Q: What if I have just enough Family Honor to bring a Personality out, but I lose some honor while gathering gold for her? Can I still hire her with the money?

    A: No way. She will turn her nose up at your filthy lucre (though the Emperor's tax collectors won't). You must meet all minimum honor requirements after gathering your money for a card. However, you no longer have to meet those requirements when you START gatheringg your payment. All that matters is how you stand when you approach her with the money. This is a REVERSAL - approach her with the money. (This rule only applies to purchasing cards, by the way. Anything else you try to do has to be legal before you can start it)

Q: When is Hoseki, the Ninja Mystic, treated as a ninja, and when is she treated as a shugenja?

    A: When she "casts" her spell she performs a ninja action instead, but the spell is always a spell, and anything it does to "this shugenja" will affect her. Doom of the Phoenix dedroys the spell. Black Scrolls corrupt her, spells that destroy their caster destroy her, and so on.

    Junzo's Army: He also can't make use of the Alliance event.

Errata

Peasant Levies, Tokiuji: These cards should have the ASHIGARU trait.

Mounts: This card should have the Cavalry and CRETURE traits.

Oni no Genso: This card should have the NONHUMAN trait.

Genzo: Should not refer to himself as "Norio"

Also, the following three Personalities have lost the UNALIGNED trait and acquired the YORITOMO'S ALLIANCE trait.

    Kemmei
    Moshi Wakiza
    Tsuruchi


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