Accessible Terrain

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Shadowlands, Jade Edition, Pearl Edition, Twenty Festivals, Hidden Emperor Starter, Heaven & Earth, An Oni's Fury, Promotional–Twenty Festivals

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Terrain

Card Text

The Attacker and Defender each have the ability, "Absent Repeatable Battle: Move your target Personality at any location to this battlefield."
Absent Battle: Destroy a Terrain (if able). Put this Terrain into play.

Focus Value

1

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Accessible Terrain 0G 1FV Immediate Terrain. You may play this card during a battle in which you have no units. Battle: The attacker and Defender each gain the ability "Battle: Move one of your units into this battle."" [MRP, An Oni's Fury, 10 December 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 5
• The Attacker and Defender are the only ones who can bring units in, and they may only select units they control. [DW, l5rinfo, 6/4/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 13
• Players may repeatedly take the terrain's Battle action to move units in as long as the terrain remains in play. They are limited to moving one unit per action, not one unit total. [previous FAQs] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 13
• Clarified: the one-unit limit is per action, not overall. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 1
• Accumulated Rulings Accumulated Rulings, April 22, 1998, p. 7
• Q: My opponent has played Accessible Terrain against me, and has already moved one Unit into the current battle. Now he wants to move another one in. Can he do that? The card says we can both only bring in one Unit. A: As long as Accessible Terrain is in play, both the Attacker and the Defender have the ability to take a Battle action to move any Unit they control (except bowed Units -- see pp. 21-22) into the current battle. The word "one" refers to how many Units can be moved by this single action, not the final total. Both of you may perform this action multiple times if the terrain card is not destroyed. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.4 & errata, June 1997, p. 6

Rules Q&A

• Q: So given that Rekkai exp can move into a battle that she's already in, does this also apply to other personalities when using something like Accessible Terrain? In other words, can I keep moving the same personality into their present battle?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 21 August 2003, Part 2", 22 Aug 2003
• Q: If someone plays Torrential Rain at Province four, the battle may have ended but it has not resolved. So can I play Accessible Terrain at Province 4 and move units back into it then resolve it?
  No. The battle has ended.
  So, does this mean a battle that has ended has resolved?
  A: There was no Resolution Segment, but it is a resolved battle, yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 April 2003", 25 Apr 2003
• Q: If someone plays Torrential Rain at Province four, the battle may have ended but it has not resolved. So can I play Accessible Terrain at Province 4 and move units back into it then resolve it?
  A: No. The battle has ended. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 22 April 2003", 23 Apr 2003
• Q: So are "this battle" (Accessible Terrain) and "the current battle" (Daidoji Rekai xp2) different things?
  A: Sometimes.
  "The current battle" always means nothing more than "the battle going on right now". "This battle" always means at least that, and ALSO means "the battle this card is in" unless that phrase is nonsensical due to the nature of the card (like an Action card or a non-Fortification Holding). Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 April 2003", 9 Apr 2003
• Q: With Accessible Terrain, can you send in units to a new battle after you have rally cry(ed) from a previous one? I.E. I take one, rally, accessible, crunch again?
  A: The unit moved into the battle may come from anywhere. Units that were in other battles earlier and, for whatever reason, are unbowed, can legally be moved in. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 February 2003", 25 Feb 2003
• Q: Hi Jeff, Question regarding the Oracle of Earth. Can I use it's ability to play a terrain in a battle where I have no presence if the terrain is allowed to be played in a battle in which I have no presence? Example: A battle is resolving at province 1 and no units are present. Can I play Accessible Terrain with the Oracle of Earth?
  A: Current Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 September 2002", 6 Sep 2002
• Q: 2) If I've got Akodo Yobi in a battle at province A and I'm resolving a battle at Province B and play Accessible Terrain there, can I use Yobi's ability to draw a card off of the Terrain?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 September 2002", 4 Sep 2002
• Q: Player 1 (me): Shadowlands (The Spawning Ground) Player 2 :Crab Player 3:Crane
  I recently played a multi- game and the following occured:
  During my turn, I initiated an attack vs. the Crane provinces. My Stronghold, not containing any caveats for allying or asking to ally, allows me to ask the Crab for help in pulverizing the Crane.
  Province 1: My entire army + Crab allying support gets sent home w/o bowing (Bridged Pass). Province 2: I play Accessible terrain (after the defender passes).
  Q: Does the allying attacker gain the ability printed on Accessible Terrain?
  A: No. He is an "attacking player" and an "attacking ally", but you and ONLY you are the "Attacker". "Attacker" and "Defender" are rigid terms. Normally, there is exactly one of each. Jeff Alexander, "post for 11 January 2002", 12 Jan 2002
• Q: From the archive.
  Accessible Terrain Reads, "Accessible Terrain 0G 1FV Immediate Terrain. You may play this card during a battle in which you have no units. Battle: The attacker and Defender each gain the ability "Battle: Move one of your units into this battle."" [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001]
  The word one is not capitalized, bolded, or in quotes, so if I have the ability to move personalities into the battle, I can move more than one personality in correct?
  A: Yes. You may take that action as many times as you wish while the terrain is in play and you have unbowed Personalities outside the battle. Each time you use it, you get to move one unit. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 November 2001", 14 Nov 2001
• Q: Regarding this reversal: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 2#p1487112
  can we expect reversals here as well: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=113177&p=1463300#p1463300 ?
  A: No, as the Reversal only concerns whose effects are those created by an action from the ability granted by Accessible Terrain. There has been no change to the definitions of "from", "on" or "card effect".
  Iron Armor still prevents card effects that move its Personality, and Brazen Disregard still negates movement from the effect of an action from a Strategy. Alex Jones, "Accessible Terrain Reversal", 4 Sep 2015
• Q: RE: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=114671&p=1483124&hilit=ring+of+earth#p1483124
  It's been almost a full month since it was "under discussion". We're now in Kotei season and this has a massive impact on a bunch of regularly played cards, not an obscure combo or interaction. Can we get an update on this?
  A: Brazen Disregard has been errata'd, so that it only negates movement from the action it Interrupts, not any other movement from the same Strategy, whether from a trait, an action using another ability, or an action using the same ability as the original action. If you use Brazen Disregard to Interrupt an action taken using the ability granted by Accessible Terrain, the action is from a Strategy, so the movement will be negated, but only for that one action: further actions from the same Accessible Terrain are not affected.
  Similarly, Ring of Earth only negates movement from the action it Interrupts. It has no effect on any other actions from the same ability. Alex Jones, "Accessible Terrain + Brazen Disregard/Ring of Earth", 31 Aug 2015
• Q: Under 20F rules, can Brazen Disregard stop the movement from an Accessible Terrain?
  The 20F rules state "The source is the card that the effect, action or targeting is printed on, or the rulebook if it is printed there" and "Effects of traits and abilities given to other cards, copied from other cards, or on created cards, come from the card they are on.", making no mention of players being a possible source.
  A: In this case, Accessible Terrain is still the source of the effect, as it does not fit either of the exceptions listed under "From". Brazen Disregard will stop it.
  For clarification, note that you must use Brazen Disregard to Interrupt the Absent Repeatable Battle; playing it to Interrupt the Absent Battle that puts Accessible Terrain into play will NOT prevent all movement from Accessible Terrain. Jon Palmer, "Accessible Terrain and Brazen Disregard", 27 Mar 2015
• Q: so as far as i remember OPT was established after DoTE.
  reading along the Oracle we came across this card http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=7521
  Strategic Crossroad Terrain Other players' Personalities who moved into your army with an action have +2F while at this battlefield. All players have the ability, "Battle: Target your unit: Move it to the current battlefield." Battle: If there are no Terrains at the current battlefield: Put this card into play there.
  Legality Rain of Blood (Diamond)
  comparing it to Accessible Terrain http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=108 The Attacker and Defender each have the ability, "Battle: Any number of times per turn, target your unbowed Personality: Move him to the current battlefield."
  Questions: How many times can Strategic Crossroad be used? Let's say I have 1 unit in the battle and 5 bowed units at home. Can I use SCrossroad to move in all 5 units in, one at a time? If my opponent sends home one of the 5 units I moved in with SCrossroad, can I target it again and move the unit into the battle?
  Thanks!
  Bonus Question: I vaguely recall we should be posting Oracle text concerns at a different thread but i don't know where or if it even exists at all.
  A: As currently worded in the Oracle, the ability granted by Strategic Crossroad is once per turn. If you believe the Oracle may be in error in this case, you want this thread here. Jon Palmer, "Strategic Crossroad", 2 Apr 2013
• Q: Sorry accessible terrain (my brain tied into counter to the card. 🤷) but now that I'm thinking through it that doesn't itself create presence is action does so I guess I cheated... Whoops
  A: Accessible is "Absent". Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #l5r", 15 Jun 2024