Ninja Stronghold

Legend of the Five Rings card from Obsidian Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Hidden Emperor Starter

Card Type

Holding

Gold Cost

4

Keywords

Ninja

Card Text

When paying to Equip or Recruit a non-variable-cost Ninja, or for a non-variable-cost action from a Strategy or one that puts any Ninja cards into play, you may bow this Holding to ignore the action's Gold cost.

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Ninja players do not gain honor for bringing a Ninja Personality into play using this holding. [FAQ] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 84
• Q: Can a Kolat Servant bow to keep a Ninja Stronghold bowed? A: The answer to this is "No", and here's why: Strongholds are a special element of the game. They're not Holdings, and they're not cards -- not even if you use one of the special Stronghold Cards. In fact, they're completely divorced from cards as far as game mechanics go. Something that can affect Strongholds can't affect cards, and vice versa. Notice that since Strongholds aren't cards, the Foo Rule doesn't apply to them either. The "Ancient Temples of the Naga" are neither a Temple nor a Naga card, for example. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 21
• Q: So even though the Ninja Stronghold is a "Stronghold" by the Foo Rule, any card that refers to a "Stronghold" can only be played against a player's clan box thingie? A: Exactly. The word "Stronghold" goes beyond card traits. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 21
• Q: If I bring a Personality into play with the Ninja Stronghold holding, do I gain his Personal Honor? A: No. The Ninja Stronghold waives the gold cost. It neither pays it nor reduces it to zero. The Imperial Herald, Issue 11, p. 26

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can a Ninja player use Blood Money to waive Toturi the First's honor requirement if bringing him into play "without gold cost" with a Ninja Stronghold?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 March 2003", 13 Mar 2003
• Q: Came back to the Ninja Clan open deck and thought of an issue concerning Test of Courage. Could Test of Courage be played to avoid being sent home by the Ninja Stronghold?
  A: Yes. It cancels the entire Dark Path of Shadow action. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 July 2002", 30 Jul 2002
• Q: Example: Ninja Stronghold - As a battle action, send home attacking army if it has less than 10 chi. This action can still occurr if the stronghold is bowed.
  What if I walk in with a Sneak Attack and Dead Ground/Night Battle. Or play Secret Entrance. Since the stronghold cannot destroy the terrains, and the player won't have a means to destroy it, does the fact the action is on the stronghold, negate the "lock" and allow him to take the action to send me home? Also, on Secret Entrance, if he has no defenders, and SE comes into play as my reaction, since he can't use actions that he normally could use if no defenders (imperial favor), then he doesn't get the stronghold affect now, right?
  From the Archive:
  A: The Dark Path of Shadow
  Ability is usable if prohibited by a card effect (e.g., Deadly Ground, The Secret Entrance) or with no units in the battle. [5 May 1999] Ability is not usable if you do not have a chance to perform Open/Battle actions (e.g., Crushing Attack). Ability can be cancelled (e.g., Storms of War).
  Essentialy, I think you're missing something about the Dark Path. The reason that the action can be used under Deadly etc. is because it says it can (you may take this action in a battle where you cannot take actions). That phrase isn't 'written' on all Strongholds, but it's definitely part of the Dark Path's ability, and it extends to all situations where the DPoS player is prevented from taking actions by card effects, in addition to situations where he's prevented from taking them normally because he doesn't have a guy there. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for December 11th", 11 Dec 2000
• Q: Can Ninja Stronghold be used to ignore Goju Saido's gold cost, specifically when including his Invest trait?
  A: The prescence of the Invest trait on Saido means he is a variable costs Ninja card (5G or 15G).
  This means that Ninja Stronghold cannot be used to ignore his Gold Cost. Ben Higgins, "Legacy Goju Saido + Ninja Stronghold", 6 Aug 2014
• Q: Hi,
  As long as Ninja Stronghold "pays" for the extra 2 gold in order to waive the Honor Requirement of a personality I want to bring into play, the following should be OK. For example, I want to use Soul Jar (or any card that allow me to waive the cost) on a personality who share my Clan Alignment.
  My plan : I increase the gold cost of my dead personality to waive his honor requirement. Soul Jar allow me to waive the cost so it enters play even if my family honor is lower than the personality's honor requirement. can I do that ?
  Is there any mechanical difference between "Waiving Cost" and "Ignoring Cost" ?
  Parts of rules info :
  "Clan Discount and Ignoring Honor Requirements Now all rules for bringing people into play, except Proclaim, apply at all times, meaning you can apply your clan discount and pay extra gold to ignore honor requirements any time you bring someone of your clan into play. This change was made to simply be more intuitive." (http://www.l5r.com/news/emperor-edition ... new-rules/)
  (The EE Comprehensive Rules seem unclear/contradictory on this matter, saying "if it's the player's dynasty phase" under "Playing Personalities" and then "before each time a player brings a personality into play" [with an obvious lack of stipulations] under "Clan Alignment and Entering Play".) http://rules.l5r.com/EE_Card_types#Personalities
  Card Text : Soul Jar : Limited: Bow this Personality: Lose 3 Honor. Target one of your dead Personalities. He enters play, waiving costs
  Ninja Stronghold : Bow this card to put any Ninja card into play without gold cost. Variable cost cards may not be paid for in this manner.
  Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
  A: Correct, if you're waiving the cost with a card like Ninja Stronghold you may choose to pay the extra two gold and then waive the higher cost. Jon Palmer, "Personality : Waiving Cost VS Honor Requirement", 11 Feb 2012
• Q: So, what the subject says. Will Preparing Stockpiles negate the movement caused by the Ninja Stronghold? I ask b/c I'm a little fuzzy on whether Legacy Strongholds count as "cards" per Preparing's wording.
  A: Yes, Preparing Stockpiles can negate the movement.
  The only special Legacy rule about "cards" v. "Strongholds" is this: For cards printed before Khan's Defiance: "Uses of the word "card" does not refer to Strongholds unless explicitly stated (ie "actions on cards" does not refer to actions on a Stronghold). [ADDED April 08 2008]"
  Stockpiles was printed after KD, so it follows regular SE rules that its reference to "card effects" can mean Stronghold effects. Brook Cunningham, "Preparing Stockpiles vs. The Dark Path of Shadow", 30 Jun 2008
• Q: With Shiro no Soshi as a stronghold, Ninja Stronghold may enter play as a Ninjutsu Personality...
  A: My dear Arthur, this wasn't true of Kuroiban Compound during Lotus, and it's not true of Ninja Stronghold now either. Yes, Shiro no Soshi will give Ninja Stronghold the Ninjutsu keyword, but a non-Personality can't do a whole lot with that keyword.
  From the Legacy Format rules, additions to the Samurai Rulebook (emphasis mine):
  http://rules.l5r.com/Legacy_Format#Legacy_Format_Changes_to_the_Samurai_Rulebook: "Personalities with the Ninjutsu keyword are treated specially at certain times while face-down."
  And even from the Stronghold in question (emphasis mine, again): "Each time you would reveal a Dynasty card during the Events Phase, you may look at it, then choose not to reveal it if it is a Ninjutsu Personality." Brook Cunningham, "Legacy: Ninjutsu Holdings", 20 Mar 2008
• Q: During the Dynasty Phase, before bringing into play a Personality aligned to his Clan, a player may increase the Personality's Gold cost to enter play by 2, and waive the Personality's Honor Requirement.
  A: You increase the Gold Cost for the Ninja to enter play, waiving his Honor Requirement. Martin Lund, "May Ninja Stronghold pay 2g for a personality for honor req?", 3 Mar 2008
• Q: Bow this card to put any Ninja card into play without gold cost. Variable cost cards may not be paid for in this manner.
  A: Then you bow Ninja Stronghold to completely ignore the Gold Cost to enter play. Martin Lund, "May Ninja Stronghold pay 2g for a personality for honor req?", 3 Mar 2008
• Q: Jade Extended question: Can I use the Ninja Stronghold to pay for a Ninja Kidnapper? it seems like it should, but there's a bit of intuition that tells me I should ask.
  A: Yes. That reminds me, I need to fix the Oracle wording on Ninja Stronghold. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂 Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 10 Feb 2024