Arrows from the Woods

Legend of the Five Rings card from Samurai Edition, Shadowlands, Jade Edition, Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Promotional–Gold, Siege of Sleeping Mountain, Top Deck Booster Pack, Gathering Storms, Hidden Emperor Starter, Ambition's Debt, Fire & Shadow, Heaven & Earth, A Perfect Cut, Promotional–Samurai

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Ranged 2 Attack.
Reaction: After you target another player's card with a Ranged Attack: Increase that Ranged Attack's strength by 2.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Shattered Empire

Deck

Fate

Notes

The Pearl Edition version was misprinted with a 7 Gold Cost.

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Arrows from the Woods 0G 3FV Battle: Ranged 2 Attack. Reaction: When one of your units makes a ranged attack, raise the Ranged Attack strength by 2." [MRP, An Oni's Fury, 10 December 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 6
• Targets the Ranged Attack, not the card generating it. [JA, 11 June 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 6
• Erratum: Corrected: gold cost is 0, not 7. Corrected: focus is 3, not 2. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 1
• Erratum: Arrows From the Woods: gold cost is 0, not 7. The Imperial Herald, Issue 13, p. 35
• Erratum: Arrows From the Woods (Pearl): Gold cost is still 0, not 7. Focus value is still 3, not 2. The Imperial Herald, Issue 11, p. 27
• Q: Can I use reactions like Coordinated Fire or the strength-boosting effect of Arrows From the Woods in combination with Blackened Sky? A: No. Reactions are actions, and Blackened Sky says that all the actions you take during its effect must produce ranged attacks in and of themselves. The Imperial Herald, Issue 10, p. 10
• Erratum: Reads, "Arrows From the Woods Battle: Ranged 2 Attack. Reaction: After you target another player’s card with a Ranged Attack: Increase that Ranged Attack’s strength by 2." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 122

Rules Q&A

• Q: I'm playing Ninube Ogoku, and I assign her in the army attacking my province, can I play any action requiring presence, including range attacks such as Arrows from the Woods or Tsuruchi Technique?
  A: "Any action" is very broad, and I wouldn't go quite that far. I would say that action cards that create Ranged Attacks are probably generally okay. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 11 December 2003, Part 3", 12 Dec 2003
• Q: If a player has two [Arrows from the Woods / Tsuruchi Technique] in their hand, can they play one to generate a ranged attack, then pump it up with the other (or not, since the ranged attack didn't come from a unit)?
  A: No, for the reason you state. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 19 September 2003, Part 2", 20 Sep 2003
• Q: Can you play Tsuruchi Technique and Arrows from the Woods and such to increase the strength of ranged attacks being taken under Blackened Sky since they are Ranged Attack reactions?
  A: No (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 9 September 2003", 9 Sep 2003
• Q: Blackened Sky Battle:Take as many consecutive actions that make ranged attacks as you like, before the next player takes an Open or Battle action. You cannot take Reactions during this time unless they make ranged attacks
  It is evident from this that one cannot use Arrows From the Woods or Tsuruchi Technique to increase a ranged attack strength and then continue shooting. Can one react to the final ranged attack with a card like Arrows From the Woods? Or is that still considered to be "during this time"
  A: You can only use a Reaction that happens "after" the last ranged attack. Arrows From the Woods doesn't work. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 June 2003", 3 Jun 2003
• Q: I have a 3 chi shugenja with Fury of osano-Wo attached in a battle. My opponent has the ring of Air in play. I cast Fury at his personality's Heavy infantry. He uses the ring of air to redirect it to his 7 force Shiba House guard. Can I now react to my personality creating a ranged attack with Arrows from the Woods to make it large enough to kill the follower? Or, is it too late once it has been reacted to by my opponent?
  A: What is important is the timing on the Reactions. If Reaction X, by its wording, is always played before Reaction Y, and you have the option of playing Reaction X and don't, and someone else plays Reaction Y, you're out of luck.
  Fortunately, you're in luck here. The Ring of Air reacts to the targeting. Arrows From the Woods reacts when the ranged attack is "made" -- i.e., when the effect happens. Resolving actions comes well after picking their targets. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 May 2003", 3 May 2003
• Q: So, then, I can use Tsuruchi Technique or Arrows from the Woods with Daidoji Rekai xp2's Ability to make a Ranged 3 attack that cannot combine with other ranged attacks to increase the RA strength, as it does not count as combining?
  A: Right.
  It's actually quite simple. "Combining" is when you take several separate ranged attack actions on different cards and use them all at the same time to add their strengths together into one single ranged attack. "Modifying" is when someone makes a ranged attack and then you change it, including making it stronger or weaker or changing its target. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 April 2003", 4 Apr 2003
• Q: 2.) Arrows from the Woods - How does this interact when used to increase the ranged attack(s)?
  A: It increases the strength of one of them. Jeff Alexander, "post for 16 December 2002", 17 Dec 2002
• Q: Can it be modified by Spearmen or Arrows from the Woods?
  A: No and yes. Arrows From the Woods does not combine -- it modifies the original ranged attack's strength. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 October 2002", 3 Oct 2002
• Q: 10. If I play Arrows from the Woods, and use the first ability (Battle: Ranged 2 attack) can I use the reaction on another Arrows from the Woods to raise that to 4, or must the ranged attack come from an ability of one of my units to satisfy the reaction?
  A: Every printing of Arrows From the Woods refers to a ranged attack coming from one of your units. One cannot boost the RA of another, because Arrows From the Woods is not a unit. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 April 2002 pt. 2", 8 Apr 2002
• Q: Arrows from the Woods targets a Ranged Attack, not the victim or the card producing the Ranged Attack.
  A: Fine. Agree. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 April 2002 pt. 1", 5 Apr 2002
• Q: Could you use Arrows From the Woods to increase a ranged attack during Blackened Sky?
  A: No, by the MRP of Blackened Sky. No actions are allowed by you, including Reactions, except ones which create Ranged Attacks. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 April 2002", 2 Apr 2002
• Q: During a battle, my opponent produes a ranged 2 attack (say, off of Elite Spearmen). The opponent then raises this by 2 using Arrows from the Woods. Can I Shinjo Tech this attack?
  A: The Arrows From the Woods is not producing a Ranged Attack in this instance. It's raising the strength of the Spearmen's RA by 2. You can't use Shinjo Technique on it because it's not an Action card targeting one of your Personalities. Jeff Alexander, "post for 11 March 2002", 12 Mar 2002
• Q: And What about Arrows From The Woods ? Can you redirect the ranged attack to his own personnality ?
  A: Not with Shinjo Technique, because he could not have played Arrows From the Woods on his own Personality. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 February 2002", 20 Feb 2002
• Q: If I play Mushin, Mirumoto Taiu's ranged two, react with Arrows from the Woods...I was argued down that the reaction took up my second action. But the rule book says that "Taking a Reaction does not take up an "action" for determining players' order of acting during the Action Phase or Battle Action Segment."
  Could I have used Taiu's ranged four attack?
  A: Yes. Mushin gives you two Open/Battle actions in a row. It doesn't preclude you from interspersing Reactions between them as well. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 February 2002", 7 Feb 2002
• Q: Yes. However, you cannot combine that ranged attack with any other cards, since you can only combine attacks within a unit.
  Could you still use Arrows from the Woods to raise the strength of the ranged attack? Is that considered "combining"?
  It's still legal. It's not combining.
  However, AftW reads "When one of your *units* makes a ranged attack..." (emphasis mine). You've just said followers unattached by Street to Street are no longer part of a unit, so a ranged attack from one wouldn't be a legal trigger for AftW's reaction, correct? I believe this also goes for other non-unit ranged attacks, such as Guard House and the battle action on Arrows from the Woods. Am I right?
  A: You're right. Arrows From the Woods' Reaction would only be legal when used on a Personality's Ranged Attack while Street to Street is in effect. It is NOT legal to raise the strength of a Ranged Attack from a "free-floating" Follower (and it's never legal to use it to raise the attack from another AFtW's Battle action). Jeff Alexander, "post for 30 January 2002", 31 Jan 2002
• Q: Yes. However, you cannot combine that ranged attack with any other cards, since you can only combine attacks within a unit.
  Could you still use Arrows from the Woods to raise the strength of the ranged attack? Is that considered "combining"?
  A: It's still legal. It's not combining. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 January 2002", 30 Jan 2002
• Q: 9.) Ranged attacks on Cascading Fire may not be combined - but can I boost them with Arrows From The Woods?
  A: Yes. That is not combining. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 December 2001", 19 Dec 2001
• Q: I have a Doji Benku in a Battle when my opponent's Daidoji Rekai (exp. 2) enter in the battle targeting my Benku with her ranged attack. So I use the reaction of Benku with an Arrows from the Woods targeting Rekai. What happens?
  A: The Rules Junta convenes and pounds their brains for a bit. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 19 September 2001", 20 Sep 2001
• Q: If Higher Ground is in play, or Arrows from the Woods is used, do these count for the total strength of the Ranged attacks, which must be less than the caster's force+chi?
  A: This is one for the Junta. I can see it being read either way: applying the Chi as a limit only to the initial splitting or to their total strengths until they're all resolved. The latter is the more literal, but it leads to undefined cases when their strengths start getting decreased and increased in a series of reactions. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 6-9 July 2001", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: b. Arrows From the Woods on say, Kakita Ariteko
  A: Yup. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 27th", 27 Nov 2000
• Q: Gurus, I am trying to get a grasp on the mechanics of Arrows from the Woods: Battle: Ranged 2 Attack. Reaction: After you target another player’s card with a Ranged Attack: Increase that Ranged Attack’s strength by 2.
  It seems to me that the Reaction would work off the cards own Battle action? So in theory playin this card does 4 Ranged attack unless opponent does something to stop the ability to target a card?
  Thank you in advance for your time and efforts
  A: Action cards are played from hand. At the point when you'd want to take the Reaction on Arrows from the Woods, it's not in your hand, it's in the "resolution area" created for playing Arrows on the Woods for its Battle action.
  See Using Action cards. Alex Jones, "Arrows from the Woods", 29 May 2008
• Q: (D)o Provinces count as cards?
  A: No. http://rules.l5r.com/Card_types Zen Faulkes, "Burn It Down + Arrows from the Woods", 16 Aug 2007
• Q: Zen Faulkes wrote:
  Derrick wrote:
  So, how can those ranged attacks target anything if Rain of Death is not in an army?
  Why did nobody ask this question about Arrows From the Woods nine years ago? Or Tsuruchi Technique a couple of years ago? Then we could have clarified a long time ago. They aren't in armies, either.
  This is hardly an answer. For Arrows from the Woods, Tsuruchi Technique and other fire-and-forget actions, it wouldn't matter even if they were briefly in your army. The status of Formations, however, is much more concerning, as if they're in an army they're vulnerable to many more actions - including Rain of Death.
  Is this just obvious legality, is there something deeper at work, or are you guys going to get back to me?
  A: The exact same principle is at work for Arrows from the Woods, Tsuruchi Technique, and Rain of Death. They are actions. They cannot be in armies. But, by their text, they generate Ranged Attacks. Therefore, they circumvent the normal situation that Ranged Attacks be from cards in an army by the First Cardinal Rule. Zen Faulkes, "Ranged Attack actions", 21 Mar 2005
• Q: Marty/Jeff,
  Can you clarify the rules on ranged attacks, please? If a personality
  performs an action on an action card that creates a ranged attack,
  does
  the ranged attack count as coming from the personality or the action
  card?
  Effects come from the card with the action. What "performs" the
  action is irrelevant.
  If it comes from the action card, the question becomes, do Formations
  count as attacking cards, if you're attacking?
  No. Only cards in the attacking army are "attacking cards".
  If they don't, how does
  Rain of Death get around the fact that Ranged attacks can only target
  opposing cards?
  The same way Tsuruchi Technique does, and Arrows From the Woods before
  that.
  A reference to "an opposing card" means "a card opposing this card"
  when it is used on a card that can be in [an army]. It instead means
  "a card opposing a card you control" when used on something else.
  If they do, can a Tactician who's not in the battle
  perform the action on Rain of Death?
  Yes.
  Can I combine the Ranged Attacks on Rain of Death with....
  No. You cannot combine them, period, because they come from the
  Formation, and the Formation is not in a unit. Only ranged attacks
  from multiple cards in one unit may be combined.
  A: I think it has been long-established that Rain of Death is very badly phrased card that needs a lot of clarification / explanation (as well as Duct Tape and Bubblegum) to hold it together. I've been pulling for an MRP myself. Martin Lund, "Rain(s) of Death - after riposte", 12 Mar 2005