I just started playing and am a bit confused by a few things

1. When do you play cards that can't be played during conflict?

2. With cards like Banzai where only one can be played, does that count to your opponent too?

3. What is the point of Pacifism? Can you play attachments to enemy cards?

4. My brother keeps trying to argue defended win rings if they successfully defend. I thought rings go back into the unclaimed ring pile. Why do we have a different opinion on this? Which is right?

5. How do shugenja spells work? I am lost. Do you only play them if the shugenja is in the combat and you have one of the right element? Can you only attach to the right element?

6. Can you use the abilities of characters summoned but not in the conflict? Some card abilities suggest you can.

7. With cards like good omen can you use them as soon as you pick them up if the conditions were right or has the moment passed?

8. Do cards like Ancestral Blade EVER get discarded?

9. Is there a hand size limit?

10. Is there a fate pool limit?

11. Is there a summon limit?

1. You can play them during any action window, just not the ones during conflicts. I'm going to assume you've only read the Learn to Play guide, and that doesn't really make it clear, but you get an opportunity to play actions before (and after) every conflict, so usually you'd play them then. Appendix 1 of the Rules Reference is what you want for a more in depth look at that.

2. No, when you have cards with a Max number of time you can play them that's per player; both you and your opponent get to play a single Banzai during a conflict.

3. Yes, you can put attachments on your opponent's cards. They still count as your cards, however, so any ability on them would still be triggered by you.

4. When you win on defense you still claim the ring, but you don't get to resolve the ring effect. The ring only goes back to the middle if there was no winner, which usually only happens if every character somehow ends up bowed/moved home.

5. Spells are just normal events/attachments. Traits like Spell, Earth, Bushi, etc. have no intrinsic rules baggage; any restrictions on playing will be in the text box.

6. Yes, most Shugenja for instance don't need to be participating to use their abilities. If a card needs to be participating to use it's action it will say so. You also don't need presence in a conflict to play cards/actions into the conflict either.

7. Reactions and Interrupts have a specific timing that you have to use them at, and can't be used if you draw them later (until their timing window comes around again). Actions like Good Omen can be played whenever you could take an action, as long as their play restrictions are met.

8. Yes, Ancestral only means that they go back to hand if the character left play. If you use Miya Mystic's ability on Ancestral Daisho it will be discarded like normal.

9,10,11: No. Go wild.

1 hour ago, GoblinGuide said:

1. You can play them during any action window, just not the ones during conflicts. I'm going to assume you've only read the Learn to Play guide, and that doesn't really make it clear, but you get an opportunity to play actions before (and after) every conflict, so usually you'd play them then. Appendix 1 of the Rules Reference is what you want for a more in depth look at that.

2. No, when you have cards with a Max number of time you can play them that's per player; both you and your opponent get to play a single Banzai during a conflict.

3. Yes, you can put attachments on your opponent's cards. They still count as your cards, however, so any ability on them would still be triggered by you.

4. When you win on defense you still claim the ring, but you don't get to resolve the ring effect. The ring only goes back to the middle if there was no winner, which usually only happens if every character somehow ends up bowed/moved home.

5. Spells are just normal events/attachments. Traits like Spell, Earth, Bushi, etc. have no intrinsic rules baggage; any restrictions on playing will be in the text box.

6. Yes, most Shugenja for instance don't need to be participating to use their abilities. If a card needs to be participating to use it's action it will say so. You also don't need presence in a conflict to play cards/actions into the conflict either.

7. Reactions and Interrupts have a specific timing that you have to use them at, and can't be used if you draw them later (until their timing window comes around again). Actions like Good Omen can be played whenever you could take an action, as long as their play restrictions are met.

8. Yes, Ancestral only means that they go back to hand if the character left play. If you use Miya Mystic's ability on Ancestral Daisho it will be discarded like normal.

9,10,11: No. Go wild.

That helps so much, thank you.

A few more I thought of:

1. I remember a card that said something about an opponent starting 2+ conflicts, I thought I read that you can only start 1 political and 1 military, is it possible to call on more?

2. when you say 'in the middle' are you meant to have rings and stuff in the middle?

3. When something says 'limited' but not in bold as an attachment (like the katana and fan) does that mean something beyond how many attachments you can have?

4. Do you have any tips a new player should know that would help when it comes to rules?

Sorry about the questions, I'm literally one the autism spectrum so I like to be clear on these things, and I mean literally as in the actual definition of the word and not like 'omg im liek literally dying rite now.

47 minutes ago, Averander said:

That helps so much, thank you.

A few more I thought of:

1. I remember a card that said something about an opponent starting 2+ conflicts, I thought I read that you can only start 1 political and 1 military, is it possible to call on more?

2. when you say 'in the middle' are you meant to have rings and stuff in the middle?

3. When something says 'limited' but not in bold as an attachment (like the katana and fan) does that mean something beyond how many attachments you can have?

4. Do you have any tips a new player should know that would help when it comes to rules?

Sorry about the questions, I'm literally one the autism spectrum so I like to be clear on these things, and I mean literally as in the actual definition of the word and not like 'omg im liek literally dying rite now.

1. No, each player is limited to starting one military and one political. But there are abilities that can modify that. For example, Waning Hostilities reduces that down to just 1 conflict per round, and a new Lion stronghold card can grant an extra military conflict (for a total of 3 conflicts).

2. Most people keep the rings in the middle of the field between their opponent's play area and their own, but you could potentially keep the unclaimed rings off to the side, too, as long as they're accessible to both players.

3. 'Limited' is a keyword that has rules (like Ancestral) which means that you can only play one limited card in a round. It's not 'Restricted' like some attachments are, You could, in theory, have multiple limited characters in play. It'd be tricky, because as far as I know, Doomed Shugenja is the only limited character and can't be bought with extra fate, so you'd have to Reprieve him or Good Omens him, and then play a second one next turn, but in theory it could happen.

4. The best advice I have is, at least to start with, play the games by announcing every action window, as per the Rules Reference Guide that GoblinGuide linked. If you follow that guide for Action Windows, you'll get the hang of when you can and can't do stuff pretty quickly. Other than that, the next best advice is to ask questions if you're unsure. It's better to find out you're doing something wrong than to keep doing it wrong and never know, after all. If you're unsure, you can always scan the Rules Reference for a keyword related to your question and see if that clarifies things, too. So far the rules have been pretty thorough, though interpreting them can be tricky sometimes.