Goblin Sneaks

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Time of the Void, Ambition's Debt

Card Type

Follower

Force

2

Chi

0

Honor Requirement

0

Gold Cost

4

Personal Honor

-

Keywords

Goblin, Nonhuman, Shadowlands

Card Text

After this Follower enters play, lose 2 Honor.
After your Dynasty Phase ends, if this Follower has been destroyed this game, you may Equip it from your discard pile, ignoring Gold cost.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Notes

The Pearl Edition version of this card was misprinted without the Jade Arc bug

Printings

Rulings

• May return to play if they have ever been previously destroyed in the game. [VRD, 22 August 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 44

Rules Q&A

• Q: My concern was always the ability to attach cards to your opponents personalities that didn't explicitly say they had that ability. If you can attach the CARDS created from Utemaro to other players personalities, then why not attach stuff like Goblin Sneaks from your discard pile to opponent's personalities?
  A: Apparently, as of the Gold wording, you can. Weird, no? Jeff Alexander, "rules for 9 Feb. 2004", 10 Feb 2004
• Q: Hi again A question about Goblin Sneaks -Follower. Do I lose Honor (again -for bringing to play), when I choose to return them to play?
  A: Yes. Entering-play effects on a card happen each time the card enters play. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 May 2003", 9 May 2003
• Q: I have a Goblin Warmonger with Goblin Sneaks attached, and the Porcelain Mask of Fu Leng. The last token comes off, and instead of destroying the Warmonger, I destroy the Sneaks. What happens to the mask?
  A: It stays destroyed, both by its own text and that of the Warmonger. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 June 2002", 11 Jun 2002
• Q: Or can I simply put it aside like Goblin Sneaks and build it when I have the gold (which may be several turns later on)
  A: Goblin Sneaks have a different-enough wording that they are more flexible. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 March 2002", 6 Mar 2002
• Q: Goblin Sneaks : When this Follower has been destroyed, you may return it to play during your end phase... (If the player chooses not to return the Sneaks, has the window of opportunity passed? ) Similar: Undead Legion
  A: You get multiple End Phases over the course of the game, and the "trigger" is not dying but being dead in the discard pile. You can return the Sneaks on any later turn. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 December 2001", 13 Dec 2001
• Q: I attach some Goblin Sneaks to a personality. That personality is killed. I use the Sneaks' trait to reattach them to another personality. The second personality is revealed as a Kolat Duplicate and the Sneaks are shuffled back into my fate deck. I draw the Sneaks. I discard them because I have too many cards in hand.
  Can I now reattach them from my discard pile, since cards in L5R 'remember' what has happened to them? Or does only the way they last got into my discard pile count?
  A: No, they remember that at some point this game they were destroyed. You would probably want to mark the reshuffled/destroyed Goblin Sneaks in some manner so that you'll remember which of the ones in your deck it is that's been destroyed this game. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 22nd, Part Two", 22 Aug 2001
• Q: As I recall, there was a recent ruling made that When a card such as Goblin Sneaks (re-)enters play in a phase other than the usual action phase, normal restrictions on attachment are waved, since you are not actually taking an action which attaches the Sneaks.
  A: Not that I'm aware. It's possible that I missed it, but I'm sure someone will let me know if I did. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2-7 August 2001", 9 Aug 2001
• Q: Goblin Sneaks, my goblin sneaks were destroyed, during my end phase they are returning to play.... do I lose honor for them entering play again?
  A: Yes. Something returning to play is considering to be entering play again. Any honor losses (or gains) that happened the first time will happen again, along with any other entering play effects that the card normally causes. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 30th", 30 Jul 2001