These rules are designed to allow many people to enjoy the thrill of organized tournament play of the L5R Collectible Card Game in a convention environment while minimizing the impact on the organization of the convention itself, and without requiring the players to dedicate large uninterrupted blocks of time to the event

These rules are based in part on the concepts developed for the Over the Edge Omni League. Those rules were developed by Jonathan Tweet for Atlas Games, publishers of the Over the Edge CCG.

Concept: It is not always feasible, or even convenient for participants to schedule several hours a day for tournament competition during a convention. In addition, a large tournament can tie up a considerable volume of programming space and time, as well as drain the resources of a convention staff.

Skirmishes is designed to circumvent those problems, while still providing a structured play environment for competitive participants.

The basic idea behind Skirmishes is simple. You start with a preset amount of cards and an identifying marker that you wear to show that you are participating in the Skirmishes contest.

While you are wearing your identifying marker, any other participant similarly marked can challenge you to a Skirmish. Multiple Participants can elect to play in a multi-player game, if they so desire.

Before play, the participants examine all the cards controlled by their opponents, and select a card from each to be used as the Card At Risk In a multi- player game, each Participant will have more than one Card At Risk - one for each of his or her opponents.

Winning: The winner of the game collects all the Cards At Risk from his or her opponents and assumes ownership of them. The winner of a multi-player game receives all of the Cards At Risk. Each time a Card At Risk is won during Skirmishes, the winner signs the face of the card (not the back - the card back cannot be marked in any way, or the card will be deemed ineligible for play).

Note: Cards with lots of signatures are obviously hot items in the Skirmishes environment. It's usually worth tracking them down and Challenging for them! At the end of the event, the participant with the most signed cards is declared the winner.

The Cards: Each Participant Begins play with a sealed starter deck of the clan of their choice. lhe deck should be selected at random - don't open several decks looking for a particularly strong mix of cards. At the option of the Skirmishes organizer, or by mutual agreement of all the participants, booster packs can be supplied as well, provided that each player gets the same type of packs. No sales, gifts, or trades are allowed between Skinnishes participants. The only exchange of cards allowed results from losses as described below.

Each participant will divide the cards they control into two groups: Decks and Reserves. All cards not in the decks of a participant are considered to be in Reserves. When not playing a match a participant is free to exchange as many cards as he or she desires between their decks and their Reserves. Players are free to include any card in their decks that they wish, provided that the resulting decks are still "legal" as defined in the rules.

The Decks: Each Participant will represent a single Clan, as deflned by their Stronghold. Strongholds cannot be used as Cards At Risk. Once the Stronghold is selected, the player cannot switch Clan allegiance during the event.

Each Participant must use a minimum of 25 cards in both the Dynasty and the Fate decks. If a Participant has lost enough cards to make the construction of a legal Fate or Dynasty Deck impossible, that participant is disqualifled from tournament play and cannot continue to participate.

All other deck construction rules are in effect, including the three card maximum, and the single card limits on Rings, Events, Unique Cards, and Experienced Cards.

Cards in Reserve must be kept separate at all times, but available to challengers to be selected as Cards At Risk. Failure to provide ALL cards controlled by a participant to a Challenger for selection of the Card At Risk will result in the immediate disqualification of the participant from the tournament.

Participation: At any time, you may declare your eligibility be Challenged by wearing your Skirmishes marker. You cannot be Challenged if:

• You are already playing a Skirmishes game.
• You are participating in a scheduled convention event, such as an RPG session, CCG tournament round, seminar, panel or other such activity.
• You are not on the premises of the convention.

Note: At any time, you can remove your Skirmishes marker and thus the risk of being challenged. For as long as you do not display your marker, you are ineligible to be challenged.

If two or more participants challenge you at the same time, and you do not wish to play a multi-player game, you may select which challenge to accept.

If you are challenged and you do not wish to face your opponent in a game, you may become Dishonored. You rotate your Skirmishes marker upside down. Until your Honor is restored you cannot challenge another

Skirmishes participant. To have your Honor Restored you must be challenged by another player, and you must win the challenge. You do not select a Card At Risk for this challenge, though your opponent does. Instead, if you will rotate your Skirmishes marker right-side up. You cannot gain any cards from winning a challenge to Restore Your Honor. Once your Honor is Restored you may rotate your Skirmishes badge to its normal orientation and resume challenging normally.

If you elect to refuse a challenge and do not wish to become Dishonored you will be disqualified from Skirmishes.

If you are unable to complete a game for any reason, you forfeit your Card At Risk to your opponent. If it is determined in mid-game that the Decks you are using are illegal you immediately forfeit the game, and your Card At Risk The event Judge should feel free to take more drastic action including disqualification if you are caught with an illegal deck a second time.

Organizing: Putting together a Skirmishes event is simplicity itself. You basically need to gather some sealed Starter Decks, and some badges or other indicia to use.as the Skirmishes marker.

Feel free to,make as many copies of these rules as you wish, then, let other L5R players in your local community know when and where the event will be held, and get ready for the challenges to start flying!

Note: Vendors always appreciate it when a troupe of Skirmishes players appear in the Dealer's Room and clear them out of Starter Decks! Buying decks from retailers at the con is a great way to foster good will, help promote the product, and let the retailers know that there is a larger market for L5R in the local community!

If you are going to be playing Skirmishes at a Convention and you are not a member of that Convention's staff, it would be a polite gesture to let then know that you'll be running a Skirmishes event and explain how the system works.

If you can get access to a table in a central area of the convention, you can set up a skirmishes headquarters where people can check in (receive decks, rules, and markers), and where players can congregate to made Challenges easier.

You should appoint someone (or nominate yourself) to be the Official Tournament Judge. The judge should never participate in the event directly, and should wear a special badge or indicia so that the skirmishes players will be able to recognize the authority of the Judge. udges settle disputes between players, answer rules questions, and enforce the terms of the event. The decision of a Judge is always final and is not subject to appeal.

Because there are no time constraints on a Skirmishes event, it's always a good idea to post signs (in approved location, of course!) explaining that new players can join any time. Also, if you've been able to get access to a table, you may want to set up a "teaching area" so new players can learn the game before they put on their Skirmishes marker and start challenging the local L5R masters!

Also, be sure that you set something interesting aside as the tournament prize, and never promise a prize you cannot be sure you can deliver! Prizes don't need to be expensive - often, a unique and interesting prize will be more valuable to the winner than an expensive but uninteresting item.

Tournament Rules: The standard L5R Tournament rules are in effect for all Skirmishes games.

Even though Skirmishes begins with a sealed deck, the sealed deck rules are not in effect. You cannot use a card that would not normally be able to join your clan, and you must remove duplicate Event, Ring, or Unique cards from your deck before play.

Disqualification: You will be removed from the tournament and forfeit any challenge you are currently playing (Your opponent will gain ownership of your Card at Risk) under the following conditions:

• You are unable to construct a Fate and /or Dynasty Deck with at least 25 cards
• You refuse to provide all of your available cards to your opponent to be selected as the Card At Risk.
• You refuse a legal challenge and elect not to become Dishonored.
• You continue to dispute a fmal ruling made by the event judge or organizer after the ruling has been made, and you have been warned once that further dispute will result in your disqualification.
• You attempt to look at your opponent's face down cards or hand, or any face down card in your own provinces, or any card on the top of a deck, without the use of an appropriate game mechanic
• You add cards to your deck from any outside source. The only cards which are legal for Skirmishes are those you are provided when you enter, and those you win from other opponents.
• You mark any card, or play with any card that is marked in such a way as to be visually or tactually identifiable. This does not include the mark you place on Cards At Risk that you win, unless that mark somehow alters the card in such as way as to make it a "marked card" as that term is commonly understood.
• You engage in any dishonorable activity, such as unsportsperson-like conduct, threatening opponents, or creating in any way a hostile environment for other partiapants.
• At the sole discretion of the event organizer, it is determined that you have conspired with other players to throw a game to increase the amount of cards won by you or other players
• You knowingly misplay a card or action.

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