Fortifications

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Promotional–Celestial

Card Type

Holding

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Castle

Card Text

Your Provinces have +1 strength.

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor), Destroyer War (Celestial)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Fortifications attach unbowed unless otherwise stated? Peaceful Retreat attaches to province. Can I now bow it to spend 4g in the same dynasty phase?
  A: That rule actually changed in 20 Festivals, and now all Fortifications enter play bowed just like regular Holdings, unless they have a trait that says differently (like the promo MRP of Poorly Placed Garden). Brook Cunningham, "Fortification-Peaceful Retreat", 19 Aug 2015
• Q: If I have Ichigo Sensei and Akodo Dairuko, and I destroy a province with a fortification attached (but no defenders) do I gain any honor? If so, how much (and which cards trigger the gain?)
  A: Both Ichigo Sensei and Akodo Dairuko exp2 gain you honour for destroying enemy cards, but Fortifications are not cards in units and so are not enemy cards. Alex Jones, "Ichigo Sensei/Akodo Dairuko + Fortifications", 21 Jul 2015
• Q: Dijuro deck building beckoned me to ask this question:
  Suppose I have an attached kharmic fortification in my province (Tunnel Network for example). Via the Rulebook Kharmic is defined as:
  Fortifications are defined as:
  So, is it fair to assume that since a Fortification is still in a province, if it's kharmic, I'm assuming I can use the rulebook action to kharmic it away?
  I understand the reasoning behind why you can't kharmic away in-play personalities that got their kharmic trait from Yung Sensei for example, because in that case, that kharmic dynasty card is no longer in your provinces. But here with fortifications, it seems like it could work.
  A: Fortifications are attached to their province, they are not in the province: Cards attached to a Province are not “in,” nor can be discarded “from,” that Province.
  You cannot use the rulebook Kharmic ability and target a Fortification attached to a province. Alex Jones, "Kharmic Fortifications", 21 May 2015
• Q: Do you draw a card for Expendable Fortifications when their Province is destroyed in battle resolution?
  A: Yes.
  The Comprehensive Rules are in error here, and should been corrected when The New Order was published. Alex Jones, "Expendable Fortifications and Province Destruction", 30 Mar 2015
• Q: In 20F Arc we currently have 3 non-Gold-producing Fortifications. Poorly Placed Garden Tunnel Network Kaiu-Built DefensesAll of them have clearly the intended to enter the game unbowed. The first two had the Fortification trait do that, the other one uses the phrase: "This Holding enters play unbowed".
  With the update of the Fortification trait the first two changed their functionality. So couldn't you simply add the sentence "Non-Gold-producing Fortifications enter play unbowed" or even more general "Non-Gold-producing Holdings enter play unbowed" to the Comprehensive Rules? Because I suspect that was the intend behind the update of the Fortification keyword.
  And sorry if this isn't the right forum for something like that.
  A: If Design intends to revert the first two Fortifications to their pre-20F functionality, they will do so via MRP or errata. There's not much else I can do in terms of "rules" on it. If you wish to lobby them to do so, this isn't really the place - you can post it in the main forum. Jon Palmer, "non-Gold-producing Fortifications", 5 Mar 2015
• Q: So Tokaro lets me gain control of my opponents holding if he wants to save his person. If I target an attached fortification with his ability and gain control of it, what happens?
  A: You now control a Fortification attached to someone else's Province. It doesn't go anywhere, but you now are in charge of its abilities, Gold-producing traits, and its text is read from your perspective, not its owner's (references on it to "you" or "another player" are now YOU in the former case and no longer the latter, for example). Brook Cunningham, "Yoritomo Tokaro and Fortifications", 25 Aug 2014
• Q: I am crossing my fingers for a "no they don't combo" answer, because Temple's reaction, being repeatable, becomes a little too strong if usable at each province... but anyway:
  Temple of Blood's Reaction is:
  Reaction: Before engaging in a battle at this Province's battlefield, name a Strategy. While this Holding remains in play, until this battle ends, the named Strategy may not be played.
  Whilst Kaiu Sensei reads:
  During battles, your non-Unique Fortifications' traits affect each of your Provinces, and you may use such Fortifications' abilities, as if they were attached to the current battlefield's Province.
  And yet from the comprehensive (EE) rules:
  "Engaging is the time point at which the battle, and the Combat Segment, both begin. Specifically, things that are triggered “before engaging” do not occur in or during the battle, and things that are triggered “after engaging” do occur in and during the battle. "
  This paragraph has neither been reprinted (I think) nor revoked in the IvE rules, so I'm not sure if it still applies, but it DOES seem logical...
  So is the Reaction from Temple of Blood considered "during battle", and thus usable at every province for a Kaiu Sensei player?
  A: No, and the reason is exactly what you cited. The battle has not yet begun when reactions taken before engaging happen. Jon Palmer, "Temple of Blood and Kaiu Sensei", 11 Jul 2014
• Q: I was wondering if Fortifications were considered Holdings(.)
  A: Yes. http://rules.l5r.com/Legacy_Format_Chan ... Card_Types Zen Faulkes, "Fortifications + A New Wall + Daikoku's Guidance", 10 Feb 2011
• Q: In Onyx Edition, can you use the Battle abilities of Fortifications in any battle? Or only in the one they're attached to?
  A: Same as 20F. Only where they're at. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 2 Feb 2024