Imperial Census

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition, The War of Spirits

Card Type

Event

Keywords

Unique, Imperial

Card Text

After you reveal cards in your Provinces at the start of your turn, if this Event is face-up in one of them, all Personalities (in play) with a Gold Cost less than or equal to the Gold Production of their controller's Stronghold plus two bow and will not straighten normally at the start of their controller's next turn.

Legality

Destroyer War (Celestial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Checks Personalities' current gold cost. [VRD, 12 January 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 72
• Compares costs to printed stronghold Gold production, not any traits or abilities that cause a stronghold to produce more or less gold for Personalities. [JA, 9 September 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 72
• Erratum: Reads, "Imperial Census Imperial All Personalities in play with a Gold Cost less than or equal to the Gold Production of their controller’s Stronghold plus two bow and will not straighten during their controller’s next Straighten Phase." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 139

Rules Q&A

• Q: 2) I'm using the Yasuki Palaces stronghold (5 gold production) and have a Hida Reiha (gold cost 7) in play. My opponent's Imperial Census goes off. Does Reiha bow?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 May 2003", 6 May 2003
• Q: Now it's player A's turn. Imperial Census hits the table. What happens to the champion ?
  A: This one: Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 11 April 2003", 12 Apr 2003
• Q: Will Balance in Nothingness cancel Imperial Census, Peasant revolt or Stand against the Waves?
  Balance in nothingness reads...
  Reaction: Cancel an action or Event targeting one or more of your bowed Personalities.
  A: No, no, and no. Imperial Census and Peasant Revolt are entirely untargeted, and Stand Against the Waves does not target bowed Personalities. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 February 2003", 19 Feb 2003
• Q: I just pulled this off the the rules page. It seems to contradict an earlier ruling.
  Imperial Census Checks Personalities' current gold cost. [VRD, 12 January 2001] Compares costs to printed stronghold Gold production (i.e., the value in the gold coin / grey diamond), not any traits or abilities that cause a stronghold to produce more or less gold for Personalities. [JA, 9 September 2002]
  Does this mean that Shinjo Osema does not bow when this event goes off if I am playing Utaku Palaces? Or is his actual gold cost 7? Isn't the cost reduction a trait?
  A: Key point: it's not a "trait...that causes a Stronghold to produce more or less gold for Personalities".
  Osema's Gold cost in an Utaku Palaces deck is 7. The Stronghold's Gold production is 5. He bows to the Event. Jeff Alexander, "post for 26 September 2002", 28 Sep 2002
• Q: Does Imperial Census cause Shinjo Osema to bow when he is in play for an Utaku Palaces player?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 9 September 2002", 10 Sep 2002
• Q: And as a sub-question: do 7 gold personalities bow for a Yasuki Palaces player?
  A: Yes. The Palaces have a Gold Production stat of 5. Imperial Census doesn't care about the modifying clause. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 9 September 2002", 10 Sep 2002
• Q: Namely does Imperial Census affect Shinjo Tashima (Shinjo Osema)? Is his gold cost 8 or 7 when checked by the census?
  A: It's 7. He's affected. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 17 September 2001", 18 Sep 2001
• Q: Going along with that thought, I have another question:
  Imperial Census bows each Human Personality with Gold cost less than the Gold Production of his or her controller's Stronghold plus 3. In the case of The Otaku Palaces, that means anybody who costs 7 and below. Now, in the case of magistrates, namely Shinjo Tashima, they will join for one less gold off the Palaces. So, for example, his printed gold cost is 8, but he joins for 7. Does Imperial Census check for that? Or only printed cost?
  A: Imperial Census checks current gold cost, counting all current modifications. However, the mod from the Utaku Palaces only applies when the personality is coming into play ('will join you for 1 less gold'). Once they are in play, their gold cost is no longer being modified by the Stronghold, so they would be unaffected by the Census. Clans like Fox and Palaces TA, though, have modifications that always apply, so those modifications would be taken into account when checking the Census. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 12 Jan 2001
• Q: Hi...real quick rules question, does this [Imperial Census] check printed cost or does it check cost - things like Palaces of Otosan Uchi/Kyuden Kitsune? Thanks..
  A: It checks cost. However, be aware of the specific card you're looking at. Things like Palaces of Otosan-Uchi (though it doesn't apply to personalities) and Hiruma Dojo only act as cost reductions until the end of the turn they're applied in. Things like Kyuden Kitsune and Festival of the River of Stars affect costs for as long as they're in effect, though, so make sure that the effect you're looking at affects the cost of personalities even after they've come into play. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for December 18th", 18 Dec 2000
• Q: Hi, The rule you mentioned is from the accumulated for 20F But in my opinion "costs +- X gold" is different that "enters play +- gold cost" The first one is a continuous effect and the second is an effect when the card enters play. The first trait affects cards like Hired killer, Imperial Census, etc And we have in Oracle Kiroto or Mieko with the same trait.
  A: I do believe it was older than that 20F ruling, specifically for action effects as I said. But, yeah, consistency is also tough when there's thousands of cards and I'm just one lil guy. 😛 I'll definitely try to research and revisit this for contemporary Oracle stuff, but ShE Yasuko is an oversight/aberration to be corrected. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 12 Apr 2026