Official Legend of the Burning Sands FAQ and accumulated rulings

By David R. Henry. Version 1.1. Last updated 10/8/99. (Slight editorial changes made in 2007 during conversion to HTML. -ZF)

Introduction

This is the Official LBS Ruling and Errata FAQ. Anything here is considered to be the official changes and rulings on the cards and effects in the game.

This could not have been done without the exceptional work and scholarship of Michael Wang, the original maintainer of this list (in its non-official days). Many kudos to his tireless efforts during the first two years of this FAQ's existence. Others who have contributed greatly to this FAQ include the amazing Zen Faulkes, plus all the great LBS players that have written to me with an endless stream of great questions.

It should be noted that there is a separate, but still equally official, FAQ on the very complex subject of Engaging and Immunity, also by this FAQ maintainer. Please consult that document for help on those particular questions.

Go to: [ individual card rulings | Engagement FAQ ]

General Topics

These are general purpose rulings that cover a wide variety of card types, arranged in alphabetical order by topic.

Action types

Action types, and effects that look for them, are determined by their boldfaced identifier (Night, Day, Spirit, etc.). Except for Jinn actions (which are any action printed on a Jinn), card titles and other traits do not affect the status of any other Action type (any action taken by the Eye of Night is not a Night action, for instance). Open actions are only Open actions - they are not Day, Night, etc. [RL, 7/30/98] The Buried keyword for some actions means that card goes straight to the Buried pile when played. [RL, 8/12/98]

Attaching cards

Attaching cards is considered to be an Action (of the appropriate sort - Day, Night, or Battle - depending when it takes place) that targets the card that it is being attached to. Attaching something to an Item or non-Follower Token is also considering to be targeting the Hero that is holding the Item or non-Follower Token. [RL, 10/16/98]

Battles

Flying units may assign during the Ground Assignment Segment, if they really want to. [RL, 7/31/98] This does not get around the requirement of Sandstorm that they must be assigned before Ground units if they ever want to be assigned. [drh, 10/8/99]

After you have extended an invitation to a player to be an ally, you may not rescind your invitation. If someone demanded that you pay them a water to ally, you refused, and they allied with you anyway, they don't get any water (you did refuse). On the other hand, if you do give them water, then they have to send at least one unit to help you. [RL, 8/17/98] When assigning damage with allies, only the actual attacker and defender get to assign damage, even if the current battle being resolved has only allies on both side fighting on it. The actual attacker and defender are free to pick immune units among their allied forces to take the damage. [RL, 8/17/98] A 0 Strength engagement will harm nothing, and thus does not need to be absorbed. [RL, 2/12/99]

Damage absorption is done sequentially, not simultaneously. Thus, if you only have two Eylas at the same battle, after you kill one the other will immediately shoot up to 4S. This won't increase her immunity (since immunity is set earlier in the damage segment), but she will absorb a full 4 points of damage. This also means that the assigning player is allowed to play Reactions to individual cards being destroyed (such as Martyr). [RL, 12/15/98]. Discarding a Fate card to absorb damage is always optional. [RL, 8/17/98]

Berserk

An engagement may only count as Berserk damage if all the Heroes and Followers engaging for it are Berserk. While you may engage Berserk and non-Berserk cards for a combined engagement (perhaps to get beyond a high immunity), any mixture of Berserk and non-Berserk cards engaging makes the whole engagement non-Berserk. [drh, 10/8/99]

All Berserk stops is the ability for the opponent to pitch Fate card discards when one of their Heroes dies to absorb damage. Any of the various Reactions or traits that help absorb or reduce damage are still legal to play when facing a Berserk engagement. [drh, 10/8/9]

Bonuses, tokens, and permanent changes

When calculating the cumulative effect of modifiers on a card, you do not consider the negative stats to be zero until all other modifiers have been applied. [RL, 8/12/98]

Canceled actions or effects

Any action or effect that is negated or canceled in any manner does not have the costs paid to generate it refunded (this includes holdings bowed, personalities bowed, water paid, etc.). [RL, 8/12/99] However, any card you're trying to play that has its cost increased beyond the point where you can pay for it (not just where you don't want to pay for it) is returned to your hand. [RL, 2/12/98]

City Sections

City Sections are never considered "in your deck." Thus, you can have more than three of them in play if you are capable of. However, they are still considered cards. [RL, 7/29/98] City Sections with a Strength of 0 are destroyed immediately after the last water is taken off of them. Fortifications that increase City Strength will prevent this. [RL, 8/17/98]

Discarded Cards

Unless told otherwise, all cards that you must discard must come from your hand, and go to your Saved pile. [RL, 8/17/99]

If you search a discard pile (Saved or Buried), you cannot change the order of the cards therein. [RL, 8/2/99]

Draw and discard effects

There are numerous effects in the game that generate a Fate value by virtue of having a player draw and discard the top card of their deck, and then take the Fate value from that discard. Despite the numerous different wordings these cards have, they all work the same way: the appropriate player takes the top card of their deck and puts it into their saved discard pile, and takes the Fate value of the card so discarded for whatever purpose is needed. These cards are considered normal discards for purposes of effects that target discards (such as Buried Alive). Some of these effects are "draw and Bury", but aside from the end destination of the card (the Buried pile), they otherwise work the same. [drh, 9/1/99]

Duels

No player may ever control both Heroes involved in a duel. Ever. [drh, 9/1/99] Unless otherwise stated, all duels are to the death. [RL, 10/9/98]

If you cannot thrust due to lack of cards, you must pass. [RL, 7/8/99] If you are parrying from your deck and you manage to parry with a card that has a special ability when you use it for a parry (like Let Him Bleed), that card has its usual effects. [RL, 9/30/98] A "missed parry" is a parry that let damage through. A "successful thrust" is a thrust that does damage. [RL, 10/16/98] If an opposing Hero is somehow removed from a duel, any thrust played that round is still discarded like normal. [RL, 8/17/98]

The survivors of a duel do not bow. [RL, 9/10/98]

Entering Play

Any means of having a card enter the general play area (the zone of the game where your Heroes, Followers, City Sections and so on hang out) is considered Entering Play for purposes of card effects that look for that. It doesn't matter if it is coming from your hand, the Buried Pile, or what have you; if it's entering play, it's entering play. [drh, 9/1/99]

Experienced Heroes

The Experienced trait is not the same as Unique in LBS. You can have a non-Unique Experienced Hero. [RL, 7/31/98]

You may overlay onto a bowed Hero. Doing so does not change the bowed status of that Hero. [RL, 2/11/99]. You may play an Experienced Hero without the basic version of the Hero in play. Just pay all costs as normal. [drh, 9/1/99]

Fortifications

You may not attach more than one copy of the same Fortification to one City Section, but you may have any number of different Fortifications on the same City Section. [RL, 8/11/98] Unless they say they add to the Base City Strength of a City Section, Fortifications that grant a Strength bonus to their City Section do not affect the minimum Fate value needed to Raid that City Section. [RL, 8/17/98]

Heroes

You may have more than one of a non-unique Hero in play. [RL, 7/28/98]

Jinn

For the purposes of this FAQ alone, there will be a terminology distinguishing between Spell Jinn and Hero Jinn. The majority of Jinn are Spell Jinn; these are the ones you have to summon with a sahir to bring into play. A few Jinn (Nim is the most famous) are never spells; they are normal Heroes. To distinguish between them in this FAQ we shall always call them Spell Jinn or Hero Jinn, as appropriate - please note that these are not official game terms. Aside from this distinction, Jinn are Jinn are Jinn. Both Spell Jinn and Hero Jinn can be killed by the Brass Lamp, for instance.

Spell Jinn are not Heroes until all Reactions to their summoning are done. [RL, 7/28/98] Assuming they are successfully summoned, then they become a Hero (and remain a Hero, too, even if they are returned to your hand or are destroyed, thanks to card memory). This means that Spell Jinn cannot be targeted by Reactions that look for Heroes coming into play when you are summoning them (Desert Spring is the most famous example here). Once they are in play, Spell Jinn cease being Spells. [RL, 8/12/98] However, if one is returned to your hand by some means, card memory will make it remain a Hero, while the fact that it is in your hand reverts it to being a Spell again as well. Thus, if and when you replay that Jinn, it is both a Spell and a Hero, and Reactions that look for both entering play are legal. [drh, 9/1/99] Conversely, a Spell Jinn that gets canceled while being played, or is otherwise discarded without ever entering play, does not count as a Jinn or a Hero in your discard pile, just as a Spell. [RL, 12/9/98] All Spell Jinn are considered Unaligned unless otherwise noted. [drh, 9/1/99]

Any action printed on a Jinn card is considered a Jinn action. However, Jinn using other cards to do an action is not considered a Jinn action (a Jinn challenging you to a Knife Fight is not using a Jinn action). Jinn actions are not Spell actions (although, strangely enough, the action of summoning a Spell Jinn is not a Jinn action!). [drh, 9/1/99]

Khadi

A Buried Khadi may only be brought back into play during the Night Phase. [RL, 8/12/98] Returning a Khadi to play is considered a cost, not a payment. [drh, 10/8/99]

Omens

When there are a series of effects that can be cumulative, the effects of Omens are always applied last. If there are multiple Omen effects to chose from, the active player decides what order to play them. [8/12/98]

Non-Battle Omens remain in play until otherwise removed. [RL, 7/29/98] Effects produced by an Omen end immediately when it is removed from play. [RL, 8/17/98]

You may not target an Omen with a Battle action unless you're in the battle yourself. An Omen, by itself, is not considered having presence in the battle. [RL, 8/12/98]

Once per turn

Numerous cards in LBS can apparently be used multiple times per turn. In general, this is a mistaken impression caused by imprecise wording. Most of these should actually be played as only being able to be used once per turn, or, more correctly, once per effect. This is a relic of the changing of design teams on the game on the wording of the cards, and sadly must be largely handled on a case by case basis. As such, the Individual Card Rulings go into more detail on this, but there is one area that is a general ruling that is useful to put here: Any one Reaction printed on a card may only react once per effect to any trigger effect. Multiple cards that may legally react may still do so, of course, but each separate Reaction may only be used once per trigger. It would take a hypothetical card that had Reaction: Do X for Y printed twice on it to React twice to one happening of Y with X with one card. [drh, 9/1/99]

Open actions in Battle

All Open actions can potentially be used in battle. However, those Open actions that target an opponent's card must target an opposing card while played in battle, unless they specifically say they can be used on cards outside the battle. The Individual Card Rulings will spell out any exceptions to this general rule. [drh, 9/1/99]

Opposing

In LBS, "opposing" means two different things, depending on whether the card effect is looking for something outside of a battle, or in a battle. Outside of a battle, it refers to any card controlled by another player. During the Battle Phase (and the assignment phase before it), it only counts those cards controlled by another player at the same City Section as your forces. Battle Actions, Reactions, and Opens that require an "opposing" card or army played in a battle cannot be played unless there actually is an opposing army at the City Section. Opposing Fortifications, by themselves, do not count. [RL, 8/11/98]

Pantheon cards

Pantheon cards are played as Open Actions. [RL, 8/1/99]

Payments and costs

Various cards (Sun's Anger, Haggling, The Halls of Reflection, etc.) either affect or are affected by changes to the "payment" or "cost" of a card. Unless otherwise noted in the Individual Card Rulings, costs are only considered to be the water, copper, and other things needed to bring a card or token into play. Any additional "costs" involved with these cards (such as the water to turn down a Knife Fight, losing a Duel of Wits, paying for the Deformed Enforcer, and etc.) are not considered actual costs, but instead are called "payments", and as such are not affected nor do they trigger such things that look for costs. The Individual Card Rulings will specify which unusual cases are or are not considered "costs" for purposes of effects such as Sun's Anger. In summary: a cost is what you pay to play a card or token, and can consist of, among other things, copper, water, Influence, bowing a card, or destroying a card; a payment is some other spending of resources that does not result in a card or token coming into play. [drh, 9/1/99] When you are generating a cost, everything you are doing is considered to be paying a cost; thus you get penalized for taking water from the Halls of Reflection to fuel your Saffiya's Sweetwater if you're using the Sweetwater to pay copper for a card's cost, because the water is part of how you're paying for the cost, and the Halls of Reflection restrict the use of water on them for costs. [drh, 10/8/99]

Water costs are always paid to the Sultan (that is, discarded from play), as well as most payments. [RL, 7/28/98]. You may pay any water cost or payment from multiple City Sections, but water on any other card (including Heroes) cannot be used for any costs or payment. [RL, 7/31/98]

Promotional cards

So far there is only one true promotional card for LBS, the Ra'Shari personality Misha. All promotionals are legal for LBS sanctioned tournaments. [drh, 10/8/99]

Raiding

Unless otherwise noted, there is a difference in the rules between a "Raiding Hero" and a Hero who is "involved in a Raid." A Raiding Hero is only a Hero who is "attacking" during a Raid, and modifiers to a Raiding Hero only affects the "attacker" (for instance, A Vision of Doom). [drh, 9/1/99]

Being bowed during a Raid has no effect on the outcome of a Raid. [RL, 8/13/98] Undead Heroes may not be involved in a Raid in any way, attacking or defending. [RL, 8/11/98]

Reaction order

If multiple players want to play Reactions at the same time during the Attack or Raid Phase, you start with the player to the left of the attacking player, and then go clockwise around the table. [RL, 8/17/98] If multiple Reactions are played to any given trigger, then the Reactions are resolved in First In, First Out order. [RL, 8/17/98]

Sahir

If a non-Sahir somehow gains the Sahir trait, then all abilities on that card become innate abilities, and are targetable as such (they can be countered with Alim's Charm, for instance). [RL, 8/12/98]

Turns

References to "your turn" means the current turn, and not the turn in which you are Blessed. [RL, 8/12/98]

Unaligned Heroes

Unaligned Heroes lose the Unaligned trait if they ever gain the trait of an official faction, for logical reasons. All Spell Jinn are considered Unaligned unless otherwise noted. [drh, 9/1/99]

Water

Water has to be somewhere. It doesn't just sit around, attached to nothing. Unless otherwise noted, all water payments or generation are directly from your City Sections and to your City Sections. If you cannot fit any more water on your City Sections, you may still legally play cards that generate water; this water is lost. [drh, 9/1/99]

Remember, water that is not on your City Sections is lost at the end of a turn. [drh, 9/1/99] Water does not get any immunity from the Strength of the City Section that it is on. [RL, 8/17/98] If water tokens gain the ability to absorb additional points of damage in a battle (such as by the Ebonite ability, or Visions of Solace), this does not grant them any immunity to damage; it just lets them absorb more damage when they get destroyed. [drh, 9/1/99]

Weapons

All Weapons, including Weapon tokens, are considered Items. [RL, 12/9/98]

Victory conditions

You lose immediately if you have no City Sections. In case of a tie, as always, the player with the Blessing loses first, and then the loss goes around the table. [RD, 8/2/98]

Undead

Undead cannot be assigned to Raid in any way, attacking or defending. [RL, 8/11/98]

Individual card rulings

Some of these are by other people besides your FAQ maintainer; these are all clearly marked. Others are indications of Most Recent Printings (MRPs). LBS follows a Most Recent Printing rule, in that the Most Recent Printing of a card is the correct form that it is supposed to be played as.

Abd al-Zhayn

• MRP: Gained "Collector of Fables" trait. [Awakening]

Adnan

• Is truly Raid -1. [RL, 7/29/98]

Adnan the Long-Winded

• Is truly not Unique. [drh, 9/1/99]
• The Celestial Alliance may truly get their discount on Unaligned Heroes when they play him from the Buried pile. [drh, 10/8/99]

Afshin

• Zero is considered an even number for his ability. [RL, 10/16/98]

al-Hazaad

• His ability to engage with a Spell discard follows all the normal rules for engagements. It is not an Archery engagement, and immunity does apply. [drh, 9/1/99]
• MRP: Gained "Qolat Master" trait. [Awakening]

Althira

• If you use her ability to pay copper for the water cost of a spell, you must convert all the water into copper. [RL, 12/9/98]

al-Zhayn's Trained Peacocks

• Erratum: Should have the Creature Trait. They are not considered Human. [drh, 9/1/99]

Amahla

• You can use Amahla on with an empty hand. Note that only you get to see the other player's hand, not everyone. [drh, 10/8/99]

Ambush

• The attack phase created by this card does not take place at any City Section. The player who played Ambush is the attacker. [RL, 8/12/98] The Ambush battle is in all respects a normal battle, and any legal Actions and Reactions may be played for it (except for those involving moving to another City Section, obviously). This includes the action of bowing to remove your unit from the battle (thus, do not Ambush an unbowed Hero). [RL, 12/9/98]

Anbari Khalil

• Anbari's water-creation ability only creates a total amount of water equal to the Fate value of the destroyed Holding, which you can distribute as you see fit among all your City Sections. She in no way creates a Fate value's worth of water on all your City Sections. [drh, 9/1/99]

Ancient Pillars of Qaharaba

• Erratum: Does not retrieve Curses that are Buried. [drh, 9/1/99]

Asadhel Jumah

• Erratum: Asadhel's ability targets the Item in question. If Asadhel cannot legally attach the Item, than nothing happens (beyond you paying the cost for the ability). [drh, 9/1/99]
• MRP: Added "Idealist Romantic" trait. [Awakening]

Bad Dates

• The ability to bow to remove Poison tokens applies only to the tokens generated by Bad Dates. [drh, 9/1/99]

Baha al-Din

• As Sandstorm forces Flying units to assign before ground units but does not, in fact, remove the Flying Assignment Phase, Baha al-Din may still be used during a Sandstorm to assign a unit "last". [drh, 10/9/99]

Baha al Din's Brass Lamp

• MRP: Fate value changed from 2 to 4. [Awakening]

Bakira

• Erratum: Her action should read: "Day: Bow and discard 1 water. Draw a card." [drh, 9/1/99]

Balak the Hanif

• Erratum: Has the Yodatai trait. [RL, 8/1/99]

Balance

• Erratum: His ability should force your opponent to do a standard draw and discard for a Fate value, not a "draw and keep". [drh, 9/1/99]

Bayushi Tangen

• Erratum: His ability to avoid death should be a normal Draw and Discard ability. [drh, 10/8/99]

Beda al Sin

• Erratum: Beda must bow to use his ability. [drh, 9/1/99]

Bekhten

• Only Bekhten's damage in a combined engagement may not be absorbed by bowed Heroes. [RL, 8/10/98] If Bekhten engages and all the opposing cards are bowed Heroes, then nothing happens. [RL, 8/12/98]

Belly of the Desert

• The inability to play any action also prevents all engaging. [RL, 8/11/98]

Black Steel Sword

• Erratum: The Sword's ability should read "Battle: Bow this Hero to challenge an opposing Jinn to a duel that cannot be refused." [drh, 9/1/99]

Blacksmith

• Erratum: The tokens generated are +1/+1. [RL, 7/1/99]

Blockade

• Heroes who gain situational Strength bonus only at a battle (Seff Seven-Fingers, Eyla), or even before a Battle (Adrianna, potentially Samarhad) may still assign under a Blockade, so long as their out-of-battle Strength is under the limit. [drh, 10/8/99]

Blood Oath

• MRP: Changed to an Open Omen. [Awakening]

Book of the Dead

• You may return a Hero from anyone's Buried pile with the Book, but control of that Hero will remain with whoever controlled that Buried pile. [RL, 8/11/98] You may only bring back into play a Hero who was in play during that turn. [RL, 10/21/98]

Bonepicker

• May pick any card in your opponent's Saved file [RL, 7/31/98], and you may look through it (preserving its order) to find one you want. [RL, 8/2/98]

By My Blood

• May be played as a Hero is entering play from the Buried pile. [RL, 8/1/99]

The Caliph

• Erratum: The Caliph is Unaligned. [RL, 10/16/98]

Camel

• This card does not unbow a Hero who bowed during a battle; it only prevents a Hero from bowing by returning Home after a battle. (No, this is not exactly a thrilling card. -drh) [RL, 9/10/98]

Casualties of Fate

• Note that this card only makes the Hero untargetable in battle. This protection does not apply to any Followers that the Hero may have attached to him, and also does not stop actions that target units as opposed to Heroes. [drh, 9/1/99]

The Celestial Alliance

• The adjustments to Hero costs only apply to the Celestial Alliance player. [drh, 9/1/99]

Ceremony of the Hidden Heart

• May be used on a Khadi [RL, 8/14/98], thus potentially giving them multiple stat bonuses. [RL, 9/11/98]

• Destroying the City Gates will not unbow those cards that did bow at the battle, although they will still return Home. [drh, 9/1/99]

The City of the Seventh Star

• You may use the Night action of the City to declare an Attack even if you have attacked earlier in the turn. [RL, 10/16/98] This is considered a normal Attack Phase in all regards, including the ability for people to ask for allies. Your allies need not pay one water for each unit they send to help you. [RL, 12/9/98]

A Coming Storm

• The Yodatai Colony City Sections count as legal targets for this Omen. [drh, 9/1/99]

Crystal Hourglass

• Does indeed affect costs (see Payments and Costs), although the once per turn discard of water is a payment, not a cost. [drh, 9/1/99]

Crysteel Sword

• MRP: Gained "Weapon of the Blood-Sworn" trait. [Awakening]

Dahab Translator

• Erratum: Will not save Spells that Bury themselves. [drh, 6/12/99]

Dehydration

• Since all known ways of water generation are card effects, this card effectively shuts them all down. On the other hand, it does not stop Raiding (which is a rules-based water gain), but it will stop other forms of water stealing (like the Khadja). [drh, 9/1/99] This will not stop the Yodatai Stronghold from generating water on their Colony City Sections, because Strongholds are not considered cards for purposes of Dehydration. [drh, 10/8/99]

Dena

• May only target items that she can legally attach. [RL, 10/16/98]

Desert Spring

• May not be used on Spell Jinn coming into play, as they are not Heroes at that point. [RL, 7/28/98]

Desert Warriors

• The water gained targets the cost of the Hero, but as this is not itself a cost, the water gain is not affected by such things as Sun's Anger or other cost-affecting effects (so attaching Desert Warriors under Sun's Anger does not get you double water from the Hero). [RL, 11/12/98]

Dhul Fiqar Knife

• MRP: Gained "Sacred" trait. [Awakening]

Divination

• The player of Divination gets to choose which cards to look at. [RL, 8/12/98]

Doomed City of Laramun

• While Faction restrictions do not apply, restrictions on the City Sections themselves (such as the limit on Thieves Quarters) do. [drh, 9/1/99]

Dream Magic

• Dream Magic is played as soon as another player declares a Raid on you, but before they even put Fate cards down on their Raiders. You have the right to ask that the player declare all Raiders before you use Dream Magic. In the case of various Moto or other cards who allow a player to effectively declare more than one Raid per turn, you may use Dream Magic separately against each and every one of these potential Raids (but you'll have to use a new Dream Magic for each one). [drh, 10/8/99]

Dry Well

• Because of the wording of the card, the copper paid by you for Dry Well is a payment, not a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Duel of Wits

• Numerous duel-related cards allow ways to thrust before a duel begins or lower the Ka of an opponent in a duel. Such cards work normally with Duel of Wits, and can possibly result in a dead opponent from the Duel of Wits if they lower Ka to 0. Death by this manner results in a Buried Hero, but also a successful Duel of Wits. [drh, 9/1/99] Note that since Milk of the Scorpion just sets your Ka to be equal to your Influence, Milk of the Scorpion won't have much effect on a Duel of Wits, which is fought with Influence in the first place (although Milk of the Scorpion will manage to kill off a 0-Influence duelist in a Duel of Wits). [drh, 10/8/99]

Duqaq's School of Astronomy

• MRP: The water capacity has changed from 6 to 5. [Awakening]

Dust to Dust

• Erratum: It should read "Buried Curse Day: Bow a Sahir you control and target another Hero in play. Both Heroes gain a -2 Ka token." [RL, 8/17/98]

A Dying Sahir's Tale

• The reference to "having more Ka" than you refers to before the duel began. [RL, 8/23/98]

Eda Ishan

• May be used to reduce the cost of returning Khadi to play. [drh, 10/9/99]

Empire of the Senpet

• MRP: Influence changed from 7 to 8. Battle action changed to: "Battle: Bow to give a +3 Strength bonus to a defending Hero or Follower until the end of the turn." [Awakening]

Eyla the Protector

• Eyla's bonus is continually checked, and will change as her solitary status changes. This does mean that if you kill of her fellow Heroes during damage assignment, she will grow to 4S to take more damage herself. Also, remember that when she's not in a battle, she is not in an army, and thus is only 2/2. [RL, 12/14/98]

Faith

• Any action played earlier in the turn keeps you from playing Faith. This includes engaging in a battle. [RL, 7/31/98]
• MRP: Water cost changed from 0 to 2. [Awakening]

Fatima

• Fatima's ability only stops someone from attacking in a battle. They may still defend or do Raids. [RL, 8/2/98] So long as Fatima stays bowed, her targeted Hero will still be stuck and unable to attack, even if their Ka later grows to more than 3. [RL, 8/12/98]

Fatima (Experienced)

• Fatima (Experienced) basically works like Mind Control. See the Mind Control entry for more details. [drh, 9/1/99]

Felah Hassan

• His Reaction cannot be used to reduce the water you are spending for a payment or a cost. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Ferryman

• MRP: Gained "Conspirator" trait. [Awakening]

Fields of Rolling Grain

• Note that "without unbowing" actually means "in the same bowed state as they already were." [drh, 9/1/99]

Gaheris

• Gaheris's trait keeps him safe from a lot of opposing cards, including Spells or any other form of card played from your opponent's hand which has an Action printed on it. But he is not immune to cards played before the Action Segment of his particular battle resolves. In particular, that means it is perfectly legal to hit Gaheris with Al Ashwa!, Attack at Dawn, The Mark of Kali, Sudden Strike, and etc.. On the other hand, the Battle Action Segment extends to include all Reactions to the end of the battle, so Gaheris does stop enemy Reactions to that, such as Counter Attack, Diversion, Precious Cargo, and Voice of the Star, among others. The general rule of thumb as to whether it's a legal Reaction to play when you're opposing Gaheris - if it is a Reaction that takes place before a battle begins, or during assignment, or a Reaction to the beginning of a battle, then it's legal. Any other Reaction to battle, even the end of battle or "after a battle", is not legal. [drh, 9/1/99]

Galerius

• Note that if Galerius wins his duel, the Spell being cast will not resolve, and is discarded. This includes Spell Jinn. [drh, 9/1/99]

Ghiyath

• Remember that you cannot leave a battle that Ghiyath is in - and this includes opposing Assassins trying to use their Stronghold ability to leave a duel taking place in a battle he's at. [RL, 9/11/98]

Glass Blower

• Erratum: The Glass Blower, at long last, does not need to kill himself to produce his tokens. Maybe someone will now one day use this card. [drh, 9/1/99]

The Goddess sequence

• The Goddess cards must be played in sequence. You cannot play one later in the series unless you have played the previous ones as appropriate. [drh, 9/1/99]

Gold Merchant

• MRP: Now only produces 4 copper for Experienced Heroes, instead of 5. [Awakening]

Golem

• Erratum: Has the Unaligned trait. [RL, 10/16/98]

Goods from the East

• As the effect is used to bring a card into play, the water payment of using Goods from the East is considered a cost (see Payments and Costs, above). Note that Goods from the East can only pay for bringing a card into play (and not some other copper cost). [drh, 9/1/99]

The Grey Woman

• The Grey Woman must still bow to cast Curses. [drh, 10/8/99]

Guerilla Tactics

• REVERSAL: Guerilla Tactics requires the Hero in question to have the Archery trait, as stated. [drh, 10/8/99]

Gullet

• Erratum: Has the Unaligned trait. [RL, 10/16/98]

The Halls of Reflection

• The restriction on Halls of Reflection only applies to actual costs (and to moving water off of it, such as by your End of Turn ability or the Ashalan stronghold). Payments (like refusing a Duel, Never Look Back, and so on) do not trigger the restriction of the Halls of Reflection. Note you can pay for tokens from the Halls of Reflection without penalty. [drh, 9/1/99]

A Handful of Sand

• If you do not survive the thrust when parrying with Handful of Sand, you don't get to thrust next round for obvious reasons. Note that Handful of Sand has a big 0 Fate value, meaning you will probably take a significant amount of damage if you parry with this. [RL, 10/9/98] Since your opponent cannot parry your follow up to Handful of Sand, your opponent does not even play a parry card. [RL, 9/30/98] And because of this, that means the damage your opponent takes is equal to whatever Fate value you play as your thrust next round. [drh, 10/8/99]

Harem

• The only card that needs to bow to use the Harem's card-drawing ability is the Harem itself. You get to draw a card for each Holding you destroy. [RL, 8/23/98]

Harik's Ruby

• Does not target, and thus cannot be stopped by cards such as Alim's Charm of Protection. [RL, 8/23/98]

Hearts of the Khadi

• Requires you to have a unit in the battle. [drh, 9/1/99]

Hensatti

• REVERSAL: As she is capable of attaching a Follower without cost, she may indeed attach one Follower from Spices without bowing and destroying the Spices. This does require both her and the Spices to be unbowed, and it is a Day action as normal. [drh, 9/1/99]

The Hidden Keep of the Assassins

• If you are incapable of thrusting (such as having no cards in hand) or parrying (such as by A Handful of Sand) then you cannot use the Reaction on the Hidden Keep to take your Hero out of a duel. [RL, 8/17/98]
• MRP: Influence changed from 5 to 6.

Hidden Shame

• Has no effect if no Hero engaged (although it can be played). [drh, 9/1/99]

Hojyn

• MRP: Added "Companion to Yesugai" trait. Hojyn does not count as a Yesugai. [Awakening]

Hole in the Sky

• MRP: The copper cost is changed from 1 to 0, and the Defender may no longer play this in a battle where they have no units. [Awakening]

Jackal City of Bones

• No matter how many Heroes you destroy with one engagement, you only gain one Undead follower. [RL, 7/1/99]

Jamilah

• MRP: Added "Betrayed Vigilante" trait. [Awakening]

Janan Barakah

• His ability to do a mass engagement is considered "one unit" engaging for purposes of card effects such as Army of Ghuls. [RL, 10/9/98] If he has the Archery trait, he may indeed lead a mass Archery engagement across multiple units. [RL, 12/15/98]

Jangir

• Does not have to be assigned to a Raid to use his Reaction. [9/8/98]

Jinn Horde

• The play restrictions on Jinn Horde should read a Sahir OR a Jinn OR a Hero with Ka over 3. [drh, 10/8/99]

Jinn of Decay

• If his ability is redirected with Umar's Mirror, you still must choose a legal target in the opposing army from the Jinn of Decay. [RL, 8/17/98]
• MRP: Fate value changed from 2 to 3. [Awakening]

Jinn Retainer

• MRP: Strength reduction changed from 2 to 1, and copper cost changed from 4 to 3. [Awakening]

Jubal the Knife

• Erratum: The correct version of Jubal the Knife is 3S/3K. [RL, 2/11/99]
• MRP: Added "Recruiter" trait. [Awakening]

Kabdar Fassal

• MRP: Lost the "Defender of the Faithful" trait, but gained the "Principal of Valor" trait. [Awakening]

Kalesha Sesh

• Erratum: Her ability is a Day Action, not a Reaction. [RL, 11/4/98]

Kali-Ma

• If Kali-Ma engages with other Heroes or Followers, then you must track her own damage caused separately for purposes of seeing how many Heroes she kills. The player assigning the damage may decide where Kali-Ma's damage goes; any Hero who receives even one point of her damage counts as a kill for her trait. It's perfectly legal for the assigning player to shunt off Kali-Ma's damage in an mixed engagement with other cards into Fate card discards, if possible. [drh, 10/8/99]

Kasib al Atif

• Truly may join any Faction. [RL, 8/1/99]

Kepsat

• Erratum: His ability may only be used once per battle. [RL, 8/1/99]

Keseth

• If Keseth becomes a Khadi, he may no longer cast spells in a battle. [RL, 7/28/98]
• MRP: Gained the "City Governor" trait. [Awakening]

Khadi Command

• Since it does not state so, Khadi Command does not change the end results of the duel. [drh, 9/1/99]

Khadi Justice

• You do not need to control the Khadi necessary to play Khadi Justice. [RL, 8/12/98]

The Khadja

• Erratum: The *s by the Strength and Ka bonuses are misprints. The Khadja does not gain any additional Strength or Ka bonuses beyond those printed on the card. [RL, 11/4/98]

Khaidu

• MRP: Copper cost changed from 5 to 4. Lost the "Trader" trait, but gained the "Khan" trait. [Awakening]

Khitai

• Khitai's ability to target Heroes with Followers applies only to her. If you combine her with other Archers for a mass Archery engagement, then they cannot target a Hero with Followers. A Hero that has gained immunity to Khitai's level of engagement from a Follower is still immune to her special Archery attack. [RL, 8/11/98]

The Kindness of Strangers

• Note that this card will count as a 3S/3K/3I Unaligned Hero in your Buried pile due to card memory. [drh, 9/1/99]

Kiyoshi

• MRP: Changed traits from "Moto Clan Tar-Khan" to "Former Moto Clan Tar-Khan". [Awakening]

Kurrat al-Ayn

• Her extra cost for Jinns is cumulative with any other modifiers to Jinn costs. [RL, 10/16/98]

Lammassar

• If all the water is removed from the City Section at the battle that Lammassar is at, he may then be sent home. [RL, 10/16/98]

Lands of the Senpet

• You repay the cost reprinted on the card. This is considered a payment, not a cost, so no modifiers are applied to it. Yes, Jinn have to pay, too. [RL, 8/11/99]

The Living Memory

• Erratum: The Living Memory may not remove the Unique trait. [drh, 10/8/99]

Lizard of Fire and Water

• "This unit" that is destroyed by the Lizard is all the cards the Lizard was with during that battle. If the Lizard is traded off to another unit, or even destroyed in some manner, card memory will ensure that the cards that were with the Lizard when its Battle action was taken will still be destroyed by the Lizard's effect. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Long Silence

• Erratum: The imprisoned Hero does count as being in play for purposes of Uniqueness.

Lurza

• Truly may join any Faction. [RL, 8/1/99]

Malakai

• Note that Malakai can be assigned to defend against an attack or raid. [drh, 9/1/99]

Manhunt

• The cost of the target item is only what is printed on the appropriate card. The cost of Manhunt itself then is changed by any cost-affecting effects currently applicable (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Marayid

• May indeed make unlimited amounts of Strength 2 Archery engagements if unbowed. Remember that Archery engagements against immune cards are legal but accomplish nothing (unless the owner of the card really wants to kill the card to an immune amount of damage). [drh, 10/8/99]

Masters of the Blood-Red Tiger

• Erratum: The rules text for Masters of the Blood-Red Tiger should read: "When playing Masters of the Blood-Red Tiger, you may attach them to another player's Hero who could legally attach them. Any Hero may, as an Open action, bow to challenge the Hero that the Masters of the Blood-Red Tiger are attached to to an unrefusable duel. If this action is taken in battle, the two Heroes must be opposing." [drh, 9/1/99]

Maymun

• Maymun's action does not count as a Night action. [drh, 9/1/99]

Meeting Your Destiny

• MRP: Copper cost changed from 3 to 1, and Fate value changed from 1 to 2. [Awakening]

Melinda

• The card you switch out of your deck may be any card in your deck. You are not allowed to look at your deck when you pick the card you will be switching out. The card you put into your Saved discard is put in the same place in the pile as the card you switched out. [drh, 9/1/99]

Mendi-Duad

• MRP: Added "Vindictive Spirit" trait. [Awakening]

The Merchant Quarter

• Note that your Stronghold is not a Holding, and thus cannot be targeted by the Merchant Quarter. [RL, 9/9/98] If you manage to unbow a Holding that you've targeted with the Merchant Quarter, the Holding keeps its bonus to copper production if you bow it again for copper than turn. [drh, 9/1/99]

Milk of the Scorpion

• Note that this will instantly kill a 0 Influence Hero. This will count as winning the duel, for whatever benefit, if that was your opponent's Hero. [drh, 9/1/99] If both Heroes have 0 Influence and Milk of the Scorpion is played in a duel, then both die immediately and the duel is considered a tie (which is usually equal to a loss for both duelists for any duel victory gains). [drh, 10/8/99]

Mind Control

• This spell creates a condition in the game that must be fulfilled if at all possible by the targeted player, but at that player's own schedule within the same turn. For instance, you cast Mind Control on another player's Hero, and that player has an Across the Desert at Midnight in their hand. They may indeed legally hold out to attack you until the Night, when they can play Across the Desert at Midnight and assign their Mind Controlled Hero to do so. Likewise, if they can somehow bow the Hero before assigning them to an attack, then the Hero does not need to attack (thus, Mind Controlling sahirs is often difficult to pull off). Since Mind Control does not demand that the Hero attack right away, that allows the Controlled Hero's player to take other actions before fulfilling the demands of the Mind Control; and if one of those actions happens to bow the Mind Controlled Hero, then the Mind Control cannot legally force that Hero to attack. Of course, if a player has no legal way to bow the Mind Controlled Hero, and they have no other legal actions they can perform before Nightfall, then they must declare an attack with that Hero (and any others they wish to use). [drh, 9/1/99]

Monkey Man

• Neither player gets to see their own card; they only get to see each other's. [RL, 8/17/98]
• MRP: Added "Barterer of Souls" and "Plot-Weaver" traits. [Awakening]

Moonless Night

• Assigning Heroes to a Raid is not considered an action. [RL, 7/29/98]

Moto Marik

• If Marik is assigned after the defender assigns their units in a Raid, he may not go to a City Section which already has one of your Raiders assigned to it. [RL, 10/22/98]
• Dream Magic may be used against Moto Marik, but only if it is cast during his "special" Raid. Dream Magic cast on the usual earlier Raid will not stop Marik. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Moto Oasis

• The Moto player may not have more than one of the same Advanced City Section in play, but they have more than one individual type of Advanced City Section. [RL, 8/11/98]
• MRP: Influence changed from 6 to 7. [Awakening]

Nagah Abominations

• Erratum: Has the Nonhuman trait. [drh, 9/1/99]

Nefir

• His ability is a payment, not a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Nepherus

• The cards you can play with his first ability must be a card you can legally play in that battle at that time. This means they must be a Battle, Open, or (possibly) Reaction card, although if you have an unbowed sahir at the battle you may play a Spell as your choice. [RL, 8/2/99] Nepherus must be assigned to the battle to use his abilities. [RL, 8/12/98]

Nepherus (Experienced)

• Erratum: Nepherus' trait should read, in part, "Any Jinn in play may bow, as an Open action, to challenge Nepherus to an unrefusable duel. If this action is taken in battle, the Jinn must be opposing Nepherus." [drh, 9/1/99]

Never Look Back

• The payment of water is not a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

New Allies

• By card memory, this card will count as a Hero in your Buried Pile for purposes of effects that look for such. [drh, 9/1/99]

Nim

• If you play Blind Luck in Reaction to using Nim's ability, and the Fate value of the Blind Luck card matches the one you guessed, then you get to keep the card drawn through Blind Luck, and discard the one drawn through Nim. [RL, 12/17/8]

Nizam

• MRP: His text box should read: "Nizam may not cast spells with a Fate value greater than 2." [Awakening]

No Escape

• If the attacker is still alive at the end of the battle, the Raid continues as normal. If the attacker has been targeted by Fatima's special ability, then the battle immediately ends before anything can be done in it. If Argoun is the attacker in the Raid, you can wait until he's played his Raid Fate card before you play No Escape. [RL, 8/12/98]
• No Escape targets the Raid that is taking place, and not the Heroes in it. So you can play No Escape against a Hero under Words of Glass or other untargetability shields. [RL, 8/14/98] You may play Sound Planning to move your Hero to another City Section under the No Escape battle. [RL, 8/17/98] No Escape does take place at the City Section (for purposes of City Section traits or Fortification), but the City Section and its water cannot be hurt during the battle. [RL, 10/22/98]

Old Friends

• The generating of the 30 Influence is a separate action from the playing of the Omen. [drh, 9/1/99] However, since the effects of the Omen vanish with the removal of the Omen, you need Old Friends in play at the end of your turn to still win by it. [RL, 9/1/99, Reversal of a drh ruling]

Pashal

• MRP: His ability has been changed to "Bow an opposing Follower of the opposing commander's choice." [Awakening]

Plague of Cobras

• MRP: The Strength penalty has been changed from -3S to -2S. [Awakening]

Prophet's Wall

• The Strength bonus from Prophet's Wall is not a increase to the "Base City Strength," and thus does not increase the Fate value needed to Raid from the City Section. [RL, 8/17/98]

Public Execution Grounds

• The only use of a Stronghold that this cannot stop is copper production. All other uses, including Influence production, can be stopped with the Execution Grounds. [RL, 2/12/99]

Punjat

• Erratum: His action requires Punjat to bow. [drh, 9/1/99]

Qashima

• Erratum: Has the Nonhuman trait. [drh, 9/1/99]

Qer Apet

• MRP: Gained "Bearer of the Jidan" trait. [Awakening]

Qolat Machinations

• Since you must use the Qolat tokens in Reaction to your own thrust, you must declare you're using them before you see your opponent's parry. Note that using the Qolat tokens in this way does not in any way change the Fate value of your thrust that your opponent must match with their parry; it only tells them how much extra damage this thrust will do if they're not successful in parrying. [drh, 9/1/99]

R'adjir, the Thunderfoot

• Erratum: R'adjir is Unaligned. [RL, 10/16/98]

Rahjid

• Erratum: Rahjid is Nonhuman. [RL, 2/12/99]

Raniyah

• Erratum: Raniyah is Nonhuman.
• The payment of water that all players must make is not a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Ra'Shari Mystics

• The discarded card from their action does not absorb any damage. [drh, 9/1/99]

Re the Keeper

• Re's discount may only be used once per turn for any one particular action printed on a card, or to pay for any one card. For instance, you can use Re only once per turn on Slaves of the Senpet Temple. You can, of course, use Re freely many times per turn on separate actions. Note that playing Heroes and Holdings is not an action, and thus do not get Re's discount. However, Followers and Spells do count for the discount (including Spell Jinn). [drh, 9/1/99]

Roc

• Erratum: The Roc is Nonhuman. [RL, 2/12/99]

Rogue's Fortune

• The copper paid to unbow your Hero is not considered a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Rohshem

• MRP: Lost the "Panther" trait but gained the "Rakshasa" trait. [Awakening]

Ropp'Cht'Cht

• Erratum: The Ratling is Nonhuman. [drh, 9/1/99]

• Erratum: Does not cancel engagements or other Routeds. [RL, 7/1/99]

Samand the Quick

• His Reaction only works on cards taken from the top of the deck for their Fate value. This works with all "draw and discard" effects, as well as such things as parrying from the top of your deck. [drh, 10/8/99]

Samarhad

• Erratum: Samarhad's ability allows you to play any action that both targets him and can be legally played at that time. As he is not yet in a battle, this means that Battle actions cannot be played. However, Open actions or Day/Night actions (depending on when he's attacking) can be. Actions from cards in play (such as Blacksmith) may be used. [RL, 10/22/98]

San'a

• Erratum: San'a is Unaligned. San'a's rules text should read: "Heroes with Followers do not gain immunity from their Followers during engagements from San'a." [RL, 10/19/98]

Sandstorm

• Sandstorm requires any Flying units that wish to assign to a battle to do so before ground units are assigned. They may not wait and assign "with the ground units" as normal. [drh, 10/8/99]

Sedjem

• The water payment for his ability is a cost (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Seff Seven-Fingers

• MRP: Added "Sand Pirate" and "Unsuspecting Missionary" traits. [Awakening]

Senpet Garrison

• The Garrison only works if you destroy another player's City Section, not your own. [RL, 10/22/98] Each Garrison can generate water in response to a City Section being destroyed. Destroying a 0-Strength City Section by Raiding the last water off of it also counts for triggering your Senpet Garrison [RL, 9/10/98] You must be the player who is the attacker in the battle or raid to gain the water from the Garrison for the destruction of the defender's City Section. However, you do not have to be the actual player to destroy the City Section; having your allies do it also counts for your Garrisons. [RL, 8/12/98]

Sewer Expedition

• Erratum: This card should follow the usual Draw and Discard mechanic of Fate value generation. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Sewers

• MRP: Removed the trait that granted Ebonite Heroes a special ability while at the Sewers. [Awakening]

Sha-Gir

• Sha-Gir's Night Action is indeed a Night action, and thus counts for playing the Tale of Selqet's Capture (it only allows you to start a Raid, it's not an Action played during it). [drh, 10/8/99]

Shala

• Her Ka bonus for specific duels ends at the end of that given duel. [RL, 8/17/98]

Shalimar

• MRP: Gained the "Dancer of the First Chronicle" trait. [Awakening]

Shiva the Destroyer

• May very well end up killing the opposing Hero before the duel begins. Such a kill still counts as a victory, as per the rules of the duel. [drh, 9/1/99]

Shosuro Hametsu

• Hametsu's Reaction is triggered after a Raid has occurred, and thus does not work to let you play The Tale of the Last Raid. [RL, 2/11/98]
• The ability to bow to remove Poison tokens only applies to Hametsu's Poison tokens. [drh, 9/1/99]

Shu-Kai

• If Shu-Kai is both the Raider and Defender in a Raid, and the Fate values are tied, then the Defender wins (the Raiding Shu-Kai returns home empty). [RL, 8/10/98]

Sibarah

• MRP: Added "Beggar" and "Wretched Informant" traits. [Awakening]

Slaves of the Senpet Temple

• May be used as often as you can afford it per turn. Re the Keeper may only be used once per turn with Slaves of the Senpet Temple. [drh, 9/1/99]

Sound Planning

• There are two different versions of this card. Each is considered a separate card for purposes of deck construction (so you can have up to three of each in your deck). For purposes of this FAQ, the Sound Planning that lets you move units will be called Sound Planning I, and the Sound Planning that cancels an opponent's move will be called Sound Planning II. [drh, 9/1/99] The targeting for Sound Planning I applies to both actions. You need a Hero of sufficient Ka in the current battle (or being moved into it) to use it. [RL, 8/23/98]

Spices

• REVERSAL: May indeed attach a Follower to Hensatti without bowing or being destroyed, as these are considered costs. [drh, 9/1/99]

Stairs of Samarrat

• Cannot be used during the Attack Phase or the Raid Phase, as per its text. [drh, 9/1/99]

Stealing from the Dead

• You still cannot play off-Faction Items on Unaligned Heroes. [drh, 9/1/99] If you can find some way of giving them a Faction alignment, you may use Stealing from the Dead with Dena or other "item thief" cards to allow them to attempt to steal Items they normally could not attach due to alignment restrictions. [drh, 9/1/99]

Sudden Strike

• As Sudden Strike requires an opposing army to play, you cannot play it if your Hero is not being opposed at their battle. [RL, 8/11/98]

Sun's Anger

• Only affects costs, not payments (see Payments and Costs). [RL, 11/12/98]

Swift Revenge

• If you play Swift Revenge before you have attacked for the first time this turn, if you want to attack twice you must attack the player who just attacked you both times. [RL, 8/2/98]

Taja's Lesson

• The Battle action is considered an engagement that cannot be combined with other engagements. As such, it does not overcome immunity, although it may indeed be used on a Hero with attached Followers. [RL, 10/16/98]

• Erratum: No Hero may have more than one Takiyah Doom token, no matter how many Takiyahs are in play. [RL, 7/29/98]
• MRP: Takiyah's trait changed from "Assassin Watcher of Omens" to "Assassin Watcher". [Awakening]

The Tale of Selqet and the Eye of Night

• Since all Reactions to the destruction of your City Section are legal to play before the battle ends, and players do not lose from the destruction of their last City Section until the battle that destroyed it is over, you may play The Tale of Selqet and the Eye of Night as your last City Section is destroyed to stay in the game for a while longer. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Tale of Selqet's Capture

• The Night actions you need to play Selqet's Capture must come from three differently named cards to generate three different and unique Night actions. However, a card with two different Night actions (Qolat Assassin, say) may be used to qualify for two of the three (you'd need two Qolat Assassins in hand to do that, though). [RL, 8/12/98]

The Tale of the Fourth Avatar

• REVERSAL: There are two versions of this card. Each is considered a separate card for purposes of deck construction (so you can have up to three of each in your deck). However, by the general Story rules, you may only have one copy of each in play at one time. [drh, 9/1/99]

The Tale of the Stolen Heart

• Erratum: Should read "Play immediately after you produce the third Jinn effect in the same turn." Playing a Jinn does not count as a Jinn effect. [RL, 8/11/98]

Tarya

• MRP: The correct version of Tarya has 0S/1K and costs 1w/4c. [RL, 10/30/98]

Tasir

• Erratum: He is Unaligned. [RL, 10/16/98]

Thieves Quarter

• Because you take water off your Heroes during the End Phase, they cannot put water they have on them (from Raids or other sources) on your Thieves Quarter at that time. [RL, 8/23/98]

The Thoroughfare

• The preferred manner in resolving this City Section would be to have dice or other randomizers to pick the appropriate cards to be Buried. If you do not have those, then flip the appropriate cards face down, shuffle, and let your opponent pick one. [drh, 9/1/99]

Thugs

• MRP: Their text has changed from "Pay 1 water at the end of each Dawn Phase" to "Pay 1 copper. . .". [Awakening]

Tomb Raiding

• If the two Fate values are equal, nothing happens. [drh, 10/8/99]

The Twins Janan

• MRP: Added the "Warrior" and "Avatar of the Goddess" traits. [Awakening]

Unexpected Rescue

• Erratum: You can only play this card in a battle where you have a unit. [drh, 9/1/99]

Valeria

• REVERSAL: Her ability may only be used as often as you like per turn. [drh, 10/8/99]

Vendetta

• The Reward action on Vendetta requires you to have a unit in the battle. [drh, 9/1/99]

Vision of the End

• This card does indeed affect costs (see Payments and Costs). [drh, 9/1/99]

Voice of the Star

• Only Heroes who survived the battle get the bonus. Effects don't usually reach into the Buried or Saved discard piles unless they say so. [drh, 10/8/99]

Voice of the Ten Thousand Gods

• Archery modifiers (Archery +1, say) do not get changed by Voice of the Ten Thousand Gods, and thus an Archery Follower with a positive modifier can still engage for damage. [RL, 8/23/98]

Wagi al Musakin

• If all of your opponents have no room on their City Sections to get any more water, you truly do not have to pay them any to keep Wagi alive. [drh, 10/8/99]

War in the Streets

• This card requires you to have a unit in the battle. [drh, 9/1/99]
• Erratum: Any extra damage left over after you have destroyed all of your Heroes and Followers must go on to hit your water and City Section as normal, if you are the defender. [drh, 9/1/99] You may use effects such as Blood of a Jinn to absorb the damage from War in the Streets as normal. [RL, 8/1/99]

Watchtower

• Will only cancel Battle actions, and not Reactions or Opens. [RL, 8/23/98] May cancel Battle Spells. [drh, 9/1/99]

Water from a Mirage

• Attaching cards to the Hero counts as targeting them. [RL, 9/10/98]
• REVERSAL: This Action only protects a Hero (and any Items and non-Follower tokens they may have with them). Any effect which targets Followers, or a unit, may still target this unit. Being assigned to a Raid or an Attack (to attack or defend) is not an action. [drh, 9/1/99]

Weight of Dreams

• The card can be shuffled back in at any time during the End Phase; this is not an action that can be Reacted to. [RL, 8/23/99]

Wheatfields

• Note that you need a unit in your army to use the ability of the Wheatfields. [drh, 9/1/99]

Wisdom of the Stars

• REVERSAL: Note that if you play Wisdom of the Stars on a 1 Ka Hero, that Hero will die from Ka loss before the engagement is ever completed. [RL, 8/12/99]

With My Brother Beside Me

• Each player use the Battle action as many times as they desire. Note that you can bring in your own bowed Heroes with this Omen. [drh, 9/1/99]

With the Sun at Our Back

• The opposing army must destroy at least one Hero or Follower, disregarding immunity if necessary, unless the engagement is reduced to 0 Damage. [RL, 12/15/98]

Words of Glass

• REVERSAL: This Item only grants untargetability to its Hero, not to the Hero's unit. Thus, the Hero and all his Items and non-Follower tokens cannot be targeted, but effects that target the Hero's Followers, or a unit as opposed to a Hero, still are legal. [drh, 9/1/99]

Words of Sand

• Note that Words of Sand only saves Spells that discard themselves. Spells that get Buried cannot be saved by the Words. Also, you will have to repay the casting cost of whatever Spell you store in the Words of Sand each time you use it. [drh, 9/1/99]

Yaminah

• MRP: Her Strength/Ka went from 3S/4K to 1S/1K. Her copper/water cost went from 2W/7C to 1W/5C. Added "Provocateur" trait. [Awakening]

Yesugai

• MRP: Gained the "Heartbroken" trait. [Awakening]

Yodajin Templar

• Does not count as a Yodatai card. [RL, 6/1/99]
• MRP: Gained "Man-at-Arms" trait. [Awakening]

Yodatai Heavy Cavalry

• Only one water is gained by this card, no matter how much water is destroyed. [drh, 9/1/99]

Rulings are from the following people, in order of authority:

• RL = Raymond Lau, LBS lead designer and final authority
• RD = Ryan Dancey, one-time head honcho of FRPG, who has moved on to TSR
• drh = David R. Henry, your FAQ maintainer and official LBS rules interpreter and collator.