House of Tao

Legend of the Five Rings card from Diamond Edition, Promotional–Diamond

Card Type

Stronghold

Province Strength

6

Gold Production

4

Starting Family Honor

4

Clan

Dragon

Card Text

After all players reveal Strongholds, you may search your Fate deck for a Ring and put it into play.
After you put a Shadowlands card into play, remove all your Rings from the game.

Legality

Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Pre-Game

Printings

Rulings

• Causes a Dark Ring put into play to remove itself from the game. [JA, 21 October 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 147
• Is distinct from the Dragon stronghold of the same name. [JA, 13 August 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 147
• Ring is played before Fate hands are drawn (i.e., there is no way to play Introspection). [Stronghold text] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 147
• The House of Tao: In game formats where the earlier version of this Stronghold is legal, either version may be played verbatim. The original version retains its original statistics and its Monk affiliation. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, April 26, 2004, p. 16
• Q: With the House of Tao, can I wait until I've drawn my starting hand before finding and playing a Ring? A: No. You must search for and play your Ring "after all players reveal Strongholds," and in L5R, "after" and "before" mean "immediately after/before". Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, April 26, 2004, p. 10

Rules Q&A

• Q: Just to confirm, if I play Contested Holding and take control of a Daigotsu Dojo while playing House of Tao, does this count as "bringing a Shadowlands card into play"? My guess: NO, the Daigotsu Dojo is already in play.
  A: Good guess. It is already in play, so they didn't bring it into play. Martin Lund, "Rules for 24 and 25 October 2004", 27 Oct 2004
• Q: Player HOT plays House of Tao. He borrows a Shadowlands oni from his opponent T9K and kills him. T9K plays Feign Death on the oni. - who looses the honor for entering play?
  A: The Shadowlands Player. It is Negated. Martin Lund, "Rules for 8 September 2004", 10 Sep 2004
• Q: why would he make a ruling that is the exact opposite of what the cards in question have printed on them?
  A: Actually, I wasn't making a ruling at all. I was just drudging up what already stood in the Accumulated Rulings. Namely the passage: 'Any single card or action that brings a card into play and gives it the Shadowlands trait is considered to be "bringing a Shadowlands card into play" regardless of the exact relative timing of the two effects.' (Accumulated Rulings, "Entering Play")
  Egg of P'an Ku, as written, certainly qualifies once you take into account the whole, "regardless of the exact relative timing of the two effects," part of that Archived Ruling.
  However, that was not how the current wording of the Egg of P'an Ku was intended to work. As per Jeff Alexander, 'Using the Egg of P'an Ku on a Shadowlands Personality is not considered "bringing a Shadowlands Personality into play".'
  So there you go.
  As for Feign Death, the player who will control the Personality being returned to play is the Player who brings the Personality into play. He consequently suffers all entering-play effects of the Personality and other traits that key off of the Personality entering play (including House of the Tao making Rings explode).
  It would also count for say, Yodin Sensei capping the number of Personalities that player can bring into play. Martin Lund, "Rules for 4 August 2004", 9 Aug 2004
• Q: If somehow I am able to give one of the opponents Personalities the Shadowlands trait, then kill them, will brining them back into play with my own Feign Death cause the destruction of all their rings?
  A: Yes. Feign Death forces the previous controller of the dead Personality bring him or her into play. That player it the Personality's controller and suffers any "entering play" effects based off that card entering play, including Honor Losses or House of the Tao blowing up their rings. Martin Lund, "Rules for 3 July 2004", 5 Aug 2004
• Q: In the case of a House of Tao player, if I feigned their Egg of P'an Ku that targetted one of my shadowlands personaltities, are all of their rings removed from the game?
  A: You'd better believe it. That's what they get for making tainted clones. Martin Lund, "Rules for 5 July 2004", 7 Jul 2004
• Q: The bit that concerns me is the "playing that Action Card is considered to be bringing a Shadowlands card into play". By the timing wouldn't it be "you played a card & it gained Shadowlands after entering play"? Thus rather than "bringing a Shadowlands card into play" you "brought a card into play that became Shadowlands". The distinction is important for House of Tao players who might want to Egg a Shadowlands personality.
  A: I can't do much about the ruling in the Archive: "Any single card or action that brings a card into play and gives it the Shadowlands trait is considered to be "bringing a Shadowlands card into play" regardless of the exact relative timing of the two effects." (Accumulated Rulings, "Entering Play"
  Egging a Shadowlands personality will count as "bringing a Shadowlands card into play" and cause you to flush all your Rings. Martin Lund, "Rules for 29 April 2004", 2 May 2004
• Q: For the purposes of House of Tao, would casting this Kiho be considered bringing a shadowlands card into play?
  Playing With Madness Kiho Maho Limited: Bow one of your Shugenja. That Shugenja permanently gains +2F/+2C and the Shadowlands and Bloodspeaker traits, and permanently loses all current innate abilities. Any Spell or Kiho cast by that Shugenja for the rest of the game gains the Maho trait. Lose 2 Honor
  A: No. You are bringing a Maho Kiho card into play by playing the Kiho. Giving the Shadowlands trait to a card already in play does not count as playing one. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 16 Feb. 204", 18 Feb 2004
• Q: Can you play Introspection when putting the Ring into play at the begining of the game using House of Tao?
  A: You have no Fate hand then. No. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 19 November 2003, Part 2", 20 Nov 2003
• Q: After Strongholds are revealed, I place a Dark Ring on the table. How many cards do I remove from the game?
  A: One. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2 November 2003", 2 Nov 2003
• Q: If you start the game with one of the dark rings, does it automatically get discarded[?]
  A: Yes (Rules Archive, Strongholds, House of Tao). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 18 October 2003", 18 Oct 2003
• Q: Hi,
  With the updated House of Tao text in the Oracle of the Void, can one react with Introspection when the starting Ring is put into play?
  I would say no in practice, because from http://rules.l5r.com/EE_Sequence_of_play#Start_of_game revealing strongholds is prior to drawing your hand (and thus you'd have no Introspection in hand to react with yet, even though the Ring you put into play with HoT would be a valid trigger), but still...
  House of Tao (relevant Oracle text): After all players reveal Strongholds: You may search your Fate deck for a Ring and put it into play. This counts as putting it into play by its own text.
  Introspection: Reaction: After one of your Rings enters play: Search your Fate deck for a card. Put it in your hand.
  A: Correct. You may not React with Introspection for the very reason you stated. By the time you have a hand in which you may find it, it's too late to React to the Stronghold putting the Ring into play. Brook Cunningham, "Introspection off House of Tao's starting Ring", 13 Mar 2012
• Q: Hello !
  With the coming out of the new L5R database the Oracle of the Void, I found out that now both Strongholds House of Tao and The House of the Tao read :
  After all players reveal Strongholds: You may search your Fate deck for a Ring and put it into play. This counts as putting it into play by its own text.
  The question is : As rings are written, they must be put into play from your hand to count for enlightenment. In this case the ring is not put into play from the player's hand, but according to the stronghold's text, counts as if it were. So, I am a bit lost.
  Does the ring put into play through the Stronghold ability counts for enlightenment ?
  A: Yes, the Ring that either House of Tao puts into play will now count for Enlightenment. Brook Cunningham, "House of Tao", 28 Feb 2012
• Q: I have three separate questions, but since they are about non legal cards i'm making only one thread. If this is against the rules (i didn't see anything about it) please let me know and i'll make separate threads.
  A: Nope. You're fine. Brook Cunningham, "House of Tao, Crushing Attack, and Broken Lines", 18 Feb 2011
• Q: Second question: Crushing Attack Can i play this if i am unopposed? For example, to keep a faceless player from playing his defensive cards
  A: CE15 Flashback Errata: Crushing Attack: Text: “0G 2FV Battle: If the current enemy army has any units and your current army has more than twice its Force: The Combat Segment ends.” Brook Cunningham, "House of Tao, Crushing Attack, and Broken Lines", 18 Feb 2011
• Q: Third question: Broken Lines When does this reaction happen? Is it during the Combat Segment or between that and the Battle Resolution Segment?
  A: The latter. Reactions timed to "before" a defined time period do not happen during the previous time period. Brook Cunningham, "House of Tao, Crushing Attack, and Broken Lines", 18 Feb 2011
• Q: Can I play this card after getting hit by Crushing Attack?
  A: Yes, made clear Crushing Attack's errata text. Brook Cunningham, "House of Tao, Crushing Attack, and Broken Lines", 18 Feb 2011
• Q: When you bring your ring into play at the beginning of the game when strongholds are revealed, can you play introspect?
  A: You haven't drawn Fate cards yet. No. Zen Faulkes, "House of Tao and Introspect?", 17 Mar 2005
• Q: [jade] I just googled house of Tao. I saw a different version than the one I played growing up! 6/4//4 instead of 5/3/4?? When did they change the card? I might’ve had a better chance against some of the worse matchups! But yeah back to the rules question, is it the officially 6/4/4? Or is the distinction “are you playing monk or dragon?”
  A: There are two separate cards: "House of Tao" and "The House of Tao". One is the old Brotherhood box, the other is a later Dragon box. They are not considered the same card. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 18 Apr 2026
• Q: [Legacy] Playing a ring with house of Tao does not count as playing a ring by its own text which means that you would not be able to win via enlightenment without removing that same ring from play and then playing it via its own text, correct?
  A: No. There is no inherent Rule in general 20F that the Ring must enter play by its own text. And while OBH Legacy does have that Rule added, it also includes an exemption for Rings put in play before the game starts by Strongholds. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 8 Apr 2025