Cloak of Night

Legend of the Five Rings card from Lotus Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Diamond Edition

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

4

Card Text

Limited: Bow this Shugenja, destroy this card, and target your Personality: Put an attachment from your hand under him, face-down and out of play. Permanently gain the ability, "Battle/Open: Once per game: Turn face-up the card that was put under the Personality targeted by the card that granted this ability. If it is a legal attachment, attach it to that Personality, ignoring costs; otherwise, discard it."

Focus Value

2

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Clan Wars (Imperial), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Cloak of Night 4G 2FV Limited: Bow this Shugenja and destroy this card: Target a Personality you control. Put a Spell, Follower, or Item in your hand under him, face-down and out of play. Permanently gain the ability, “Open: Once per game: Turn that card face-up. If it is a legal attachment, attach it to that Personality, ignoring costs; otherwise, discard it.”" [MRP, Lotus Edition, 31 October 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62
• No costs need to be paid when the card is revealed. [RD, l5rinfo, 5/6/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 20
• Effects produced by a card when it is attached occur instead when it is revealed. [DW, l5rinfo, 2/28/97] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 20
• Clarified: played card must be legal when attached. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Clarified: played card must be attached to one of your Personalities. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Clarified: played card is considered in play. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Clarified: the card is attached without any costs. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Erratum: Changed: any card, not just Followers, which is illegal when revealed is destroyed. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Clarified: attached card produces coming-into-play effects when revealed. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
• Clarified: played card must follow the normal rules governing attaching. Clarified: played card must be attached to one of your Personalities. Clarified: unrevealed cards are considered in play. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.4 & errata, June 1997, p. 24

Rules Q&A

• Q: Side note: you can use Cloak of Night to attach a shamesword (or the Yobinjin Wyrm) and not have the personality dishonored as a result. I'm sure this is too combo-rific for most players to consider for serious play, but it's funny to think about.
  A: I believe the Wyrm's effects would still trigger. Cloak of Night says that you reveal the card and "bring it into play," discard it if it isn't a legal attachment, and otherwise it "enters play without cost."
  None of those things prevents the Wyrm from dishonoring you and causing an honor loss. The fact that you don't bring the card into play from your hand stifles the Scimitar, though. Martin Lund, "Rules for 31 May 2004", 2 Jun 2004
• Q: 1) If I Show of Good Faith a personality, can I still attach cards? The text says that I can't move cards to that personality, but says nothing about attaching cards.
  A: Sure, you can attach stuff. Martin Lund, "Rules for 27 May 2004", 31 May 2004
• Q: 2) If I can attach cards, and then I Cloak of Night to place a card face down under the personality, who gets the ability to "As an Open action any time later this game, you may turn the card face-up to bring it into play."?
  A: The controller of the Spell at the time it was cast. Martin Lund, "Rules for 27 May 2004", 31 May 2004
• Q: Third question is on Cloak of Night: <snip> Limited: Bow this Shugenja and destroy Cloak of Night to attach a Spell, Follower, or Item from your hand to one of your Personalities, face-down and without cost. While face-down, that card is not in play and does not affect play. As an Open action any time later this game, you may turn the card face-up to bring it into play. If the card is not a legal attachment at that time, discard it; otherwise it enters play without cost </snip> I am a bit confused about the "legal attachment at that time" clause versus the "open action" clause. If I cloak a follower (excluding Traveling ronin), how could it be a legal attachment at anytime other than my Limited phase?
  A: It means to check versus any attachment retrictions when the card is revealed rather than when it is first put face-down. For example, if a Personality already has a Weapon, I can use Cloak of Night to play a second one face-down. Then, if the first is destroyed, I may now reveal the face-down one and have it attach without being discarded because it is not now violating the "one Weapon per Personality" limit. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 19 March 2004", 20 Mar 2004