Crane Tattoo

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, The Dark Journey Home

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Tattoo

Card Text

Limited: Target your performing unbowed Tattooed Personality who has not performed a copy of this action this game. Until the game ends, you may not target him with your actions, and permanently give him the ability, "Reaction: After this Personality is destroyed during a battle or duel, Recruit him into play in your home, bowed, ignoring costs."

Focus Value

3

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Crane Tattoo 0G 3FV Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait and without a Crane Tattoo. For the rest of the game, the Personality has a Crane Tattoo, your actions cannot target the Personality, and the Personality gains the ability "Reaction: When this Personality is destroyed during a battle or duel, return the Personality to you play in your home, bowed, after discarding him or her." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 11
• May be used any time a battle is occurring, whether the Personality is in it or not. [JA, 30 July 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 11
• May be activated if the Personality was bowed when he died because it is used after the death, when the card is in the discard pile and no longer considered bowed. "In a battle or duel" means "during a battle or duel". May be used against deaths from ranged attacks, etc. The targetting restriction does not prevent the Personality from using built-in abilities which only affect himself (for instance, Togashi Mitsu's fire tokens), as those are not targetted. [netnews, 3/99] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 21
• It does prevent the Personality from casting kiho. Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 21
• Focus on... Shoju Sensei: "No player can achieve an Honor Victory while the Personality remains in play." The important word here is "remains." The effect only lasts as long as the targeted Personality stays continuously on the table. It ends as soon as the Personality leaves and does not resume if the Personality comes back. Feign Death, The Sight of Death, and the Crane Tattoo all return a Personality to play immediately after death; none of these cards preserve Shoju Sensei's effect. Shoju Sensei does not actually remove any individual player's Honor Victory option. It will not force everyone to lose a Province to The Return of Fu Leng, for example. Dave Williams explains. "The Return of Fu Leng is about whether you are allowed to achieve an Honor Victory ever. If you give up the ability to achieve an Honor Victory to avoid losing a Province, you turn off the power to the "I win by Honor" switch. You will never be allowed to achieve an Honor Victory. Shoju Sensei, on the other hand, says that while the target Personality is in play, you can't achieve an Honor Victory. That means that whether or not you are allowed to achieve an Honor Victory, you have to get rid of the Personality if you really want to do it. To follow the "switch" analogy, there's now a cover on the switch that you have to lift in order to flip the switch and win the game (assuming that there is power to the switch)." Shoju Sensei does not prohibit canceling an action that targets the crucial Personality. As with Kaede Sensei, Shoju Sensei's effect continues if the card gets destroyed or discarded but becomes suppressed if it's temporarily prevented from affecting play. The Imperial Herald, Issue 12, p. 33

Rules Q&A

• Q: If a personality with a Crane Tattoo is killed whilst bowed, can I use the Crane Tattoo's reaction.
  A: No. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 December 2004", 6 Dec 2004
• Q: Greetings!
  The easiest way to resolve this (although I'm sure Mr. Alexander can do better than I, knowing the game better than I as he does) is to state that all ongoing effects that a Personality has received end immediately upon death.
  A: Why would I do that? The rules have worked the exact opposite way since the very beginning. Destruction does absolutely nothing to the durations of any effects currently applying to a card. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 July 2002", 22 Jul 2002
• Q: The Tattoo says "Immediately after this Personality is destroyed in a duel or a battle." The initial trigger is gone once the Personality dies in your fief; now death is under different circumstances.
  If I'm missing something, do let me know.
  The actual card text says, "DURING a battle or duel," not IN. During. BIG difference (a difference which, I predict, will be negated as soon as the next expansion is released, in which the Dragon gets a new Stronghold ... and quickly likely an MRPd Crane Tattoo (and Dragon Tattoo) in the starter).
  A: The Crane Tattoo pre-dates Gold. Its wording is relatively sloppy. The ruling that the Personality has to die in the battle or duel is based of its intended function. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 July 2002", 22 Jul 2002
• Q: So, er, the following is a way to gain infinite honour, right? Bring Oni no Pekkle nonexp into play. Tattoo her with either Iron Mountain or the card Tattooed. Attach a Corrupt Jade Sliver. Give her a Crane Tattoo. Use the Corrupt Jade Sliver to kill her (not a targetted action).
  A: As pointed out, it does under Gold Edition rules. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 July 2002", 19 Jul 2002
• Q: She comes back into play because of the Crane Tattoo; gain 3 honour because of her entering play effect and then she dies again. Repeat as required.
  A: It can't use the Crane Tattoo's reaction the second time because it is not in the current battle when it dies. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 July 2002", 19 Jul 2002
• Q: However, the quandary is still there. Forget Pekkle for the moment. By Jeff's ruling, ANY personality with a Crane Tattoo who dies in battle/duel due to chi-death will go into an infinite death-loop. That's really the crux of the matter.
  A: No, because 1) the Crane Tattoo's reaction is only usable if the Personality died in the current battle, and 2) its reaction, like all reactions, is voluntary -- it doesn't *have* to be used. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 July 2002", 19 Jul 2002
• Q: Instead of Pekkle, let's make it Shinjo Yasamura experienced. Whenever he enters play, you draw a fate card. Crane Tattoo, chi-death; Voila! You entire fate deck goes into your hand. Who needs a card drawing engine?
  A: See point #1 above. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 July 2002", 19 Jul 2002
• Q: When someone who has a Crane Tattoo dies, and the Crane Tattoo is legally activated, do entering-play effects happen again?
  A: By card text, they are entering play, so, yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 July 2002", 18 Jul 2002
• Q: The example: Tamori Chieko comes back via the Crane Tattoo. May I use her entering-play trait thingy to discard a card from my hand to draw a new card?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 July 2002", 18 Jul 2002
• Q: When someone who has a Crane Tattoo dies, and the Crane Tattoo is legally activated, do entering-play effects happen again?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 17 July 2002", 18 Jul 2002
• Q: If a cost or effect destroys an entire unit, the Obi's Reaction will only prevent the destruction of the Personality card. Everything else attached will still die.
  Jeff,
  but under the old rulings, didn't the the attached items, followers or spells get destroyed only if the personality was actually destroyed? Feign Death and Crane Tattoo returns a personality in play after the personality is destroyed, so it is clear that they will lose anything that was attached to them. They may retain changes to them that were permanent though, like tattoos or oath of fealty effects.
  The Golden Obi is not the same though, as it actually prevents the personality from being destroyed in the first place, letting the personality in question to actually keep his stuff.
  Am I wrong?
  A: You're thinking about what happens when something destroys only the Personality.
  Something destroying the entire unit will destroy every single card in the unit. Saving just the Personality -- which is what the Obi does -- will not save the rest. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 March 2002", 20 Mar 2002
• Q: This is with regards to the new Dragon shugenja.
  Tamori Chieko Dragon Clan Shugenja - Tattooed When Chieko enters play, you may discard a Fate card to draw a card. [...] Now, does this mean that Chieko with the Crane Tattoo will activate her enter play ability every time she comes 'back from the dead'?
  Yes. Returning to play includes "entering play" as a part of it.
  So, how would this be handled if she had a Crane Tattoo and was killed with a 'Portence Bomb' (the playing of 3 Evil Portence)? Since the portence effect is until end of turn, everytime she came back into play, she die again...
  A: Crane Tattoo only lets you return the Personality to play if she died "during a battle or duel". And the current clarification on "during a battle" is that the Personality has to be in the battle, too. If the Personality dies from a Portents during battle, comes back, and dies again, her second death isn't "during a battle" because she was in your fief when it happened. That means no Crane Tattoo reaction and no infinite loop. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 17 September 2001", 18 Sep 2001
• Q: This is with regards to the new Dragon shugenja.
  Tamori Chieko Dragon Clan Shugenja - Tattooed When Chieko enters play, you may discard a Fate card to draw a card. [...] Now, does this mean that Chieko with the Crane Tattoo will activate her enter play ability every time she comes 'back from the dead'?
  A: Yes. Returning to play includes "entering play" as a part of it. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-16 September 2001", 17 Sep 2001
• Q: is Nakuso + Crane Tattoo a combo still?
  A: Sure. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 31 July 2001", 1 Aug 2001
• Q: 4. Tattoo Qn - A friend is working on a tattoo deck and thinks he has a good combo. I just want to check if it is legit. First Arrowroot tattoo then Crane Tattoo on any pleb. Then can he effectively 'destroy' this personality repeatedly (well once a turn) to save another personality in a battle or duel?
  A: Sure, but only during battle or when the Tattooed personality is in a duel. It's not enough for someone else to be duelling, the Tattooed guy has to be the one in the duel, so it's a little harder to pull that combo off, but that's a fairly well known battle combo. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for January 10th", 10 Jan 2001