Chithith

Legend of the Five Rings card from 1,000 Years of Darkness

Card Type

Personality

Force

1

Chi

3

Honor Requirement

-

Gold Cost

7

Personal Honor

1

Clan

Ratling

Keywords

Nonhuman, Ratling, Shugenja

Card Text

Cards in Chithith's unit may not be targeted by Spell or Kiho actions unless he has a non-Ratling Follower.
Repeatable Battle/Open, w: Straighten a target Ratling.

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• May not cast kiho or particpate in Rituals unless he has a non-Ratling follower, because these target the caster. May cast spells when he has a non-Ratling follower. [JA, 10 November 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 94

Rules Q&A

• Q: Okay, how does Chithith exactly work?
  A: Spells and Kiho can't target Chithith. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 May 2004", 19 May 2004
• Q: Q1: Can Chithith attach spells without a non-ratling follower?
  A: Yes. The player is targeting Chithith with the attachment action of the Rulebook. The Spell isn't in play or generating any effects yet, so it certainly isn't targeting Chithith. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 May 2004", 19 May 2004
• Q: Q2: Can Chithith cast spells without a non-ratling follower?
  A: Yes, but not any spell that targets him. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 May 2004", 19 May 2004
• Q: Q3: Can Chithith cast ritual spells as a primary shugenja without a non-ratling follower?
  A: Yes, with the same caveat as I gave in response to Q2. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 May 2004", 19 May 2004
• Q: Q4: Can Chithith participate in ritual spells as a supporting shugenja without a non-ratling follower?
  A: No. The player taking the Action of casting chooses the shugenja participating in the Ritual, and that makes it target them. Chithith is not a valid choice because he can't be targeted. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 May 2004", 19 May 2004
• Q: When my unit is "sent home bowed", and I negate the movement, it negates the bowing as well, correct?
  A: Yes. The erratum to the Diamond rulebook is now in the Rules Archive, General Rules, Canceling and Negation (http://l5r.alderac.com/rulings/#Cancel). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 1 November 2003", 1 Nov 2003
• Q: Chithith is still playable, thankfully. But what I fail to grasp is why the Design team won't bother to fix the error they allowed to play out.
  A: First, nobody has said that they *won't* fix it, to the best of my knowledge. The design team has rarely given advance notice about MRP changes. For instance, the changes in Gifts and Favors weren't announced ahead of time. Patience, please.
  Second, the design team has a strong desire to keep errata to the absolute bare minimum necessary. Consequently, cards that are weaker than intended have often *stayed* weaker than intended (e.g., Makoto, The People's Champion).
  Third, there are other ways to deal with the issue of Ratling having in-clan shugenja, like, making new Ratling Shugenja Personalities. Yes, you'd have to wait in that case for the new cards to be printed. But then, you'd have to wait to have the current card reprinted so that the MRP rule can come into effect.
  The point has been made on this one, folks. I suggest leaving it alone for a while. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 16 August 2003", 16 Aug 2003
• Q: Second, can Chithith be in a ritual, i.e. Importune Kami?
  No. Chithith is targeted by the Ritual. Technically, this also means that Chithith cannot cast Spells without a non-Ratling Follower attached, because Spells target their attached caster when they are used. Oh, those funky Gold targeting rules...
  This was ruled the opposite way when Chithith came out. We were told that Kihos always target the caster but spells only target the caster when the spells say so.
  A: I think that, since then, we realized that all attached cards implicitly target their holder when bowing the holder is a cost of the action on the attached card.
  For example: if a Follower said, "Limited: Bow the attached personality to draw a card," that action targets. This is a simply extension of that ruling. Spells have no special rules granting them exceptions from the general targeting rules, so, an attached Spell that bows the caster as a cost targets the caster. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 25th, 2003", 25 Jul 2003
• Q: Second, can Chithith be in a ritual, i.e. Importune Kami?
  A: No. Chithith is targeted by the Ritual. Technically, this also means that Chithith cannot cast Spells without a non-Ratling Follower attached, because Spells target their attached caster when they are used. Oh, those funky Gold targeting rules... Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 22nd, 2003", 22 Jul 2003
• Q: 1) Can Chithith really target himself if he is initially unbowed?
  A: Yes, since he does not say "Bow to straighten a bowed Ratling." Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 April 2003", 9 Apr 2003
• Q: Jeff, Can Chithith cast Kiho without a non-rat follower? (as printed, I assume no.)
  A: You are correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 March 2003", 13 Mar 2003
• Q: Can Chithith attach spells without a non-rat follower?
  A: Yes. Attaching a Spell is not a "Spell action". Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 March 2003", 13 Mar 2003
• Q: I have a question that I am pretty sure of the answer for...but not 100%
  If you are playing Chithith and he is in a battle, can you bow him in the battle to straighten a Rat in your fief?
  I think you couldn't because of relevance, but I am not positive.
  A: Well, let's read that rule! GE rulebook, page 53:
  ] * A player can take only actions associated with the current ] battle. This is called the Rule of Relevance. In particular, the ] action needs to satisfy at least one of the following conditions: ] ] o It comes from a card or token at the battle. ] o It moves or creates a card or token in the battle. ] o It targets or directly affects a card or token in the battle, ] the Province under attack, or the battle itself. ] o It is reacting to a card or token leaving the battle (including ] leaving play from the battle).
  The action falls squarely into the first condition. It's Relevant. Since you also have Presence, it's legal. Jeff Alexander, "post for 21 November 2002", 22 Nov 2002
• Q: Secondly, Chithith can't be the target of a cast spell or kiho.
  Now, this part I'm shaky on:
  Chithith CAN attach spells. Attaching is not an action or effect of the or performed by the attaching card, but a rulebook action performed by the player.
  The real question I have trouble with is, "Can Chithith CAST spells?"
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 November 2002", 9 Nov 2002