Nio Sensei

Legend of the Five Rings card from Ambition's Debt

Card Type

Sensei

Province Strength

-1

Gold Production

+0

Starting Family Honor

-1

Keywords

Crab Clan, Naga, Phoenix Clan, Shadowlands Horde

Card Text

Each Stronghold with a Gold Production Stat higher than your Stronghold's has -1 to its Gold Production Stat (this penalty only affects the Stat, not any traits of the Stronghold that produce Gold independently).

Focus Value

2

Legality

Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Pre-Game

Printings

Rulings

• Gold production is the value printed in the gold coin / grey diamond on a stronghold. [ZF, 5 August 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 142
• The Shadowlands Horde stronghold has zero gold production. [Stronghold text, ZF] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 142
• Multiple copies are cumulative, but will never reduce a player below the lowest gold-producing stronghold. [Reversal, JA, July 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 142

Rules Q&A

• Q: Sorry Zen but are you sure this is correct ?
  Under Nio Sensei (Rules Archive):
  Nio Sensei Gold production is the value printed in the gold coin / grey diamond on a stronghold. [ZF, 5 August 2000] The Shadowlands Horde stronghold has zero gold production. [Stronghold text, ZF]
  If the SH stronghold has zero gold produccion, then produces 0 gold (zero is a number, right?)
  A: Correct, and effects which would modify that gold production could be used to increase and decrease it. Vaughn Derderian, "Rulings for January 5th", 6 Jan 2003
• Q: Will an opponent's Nio Sensei affect my Aramasu's Vigilance reaction to produce only 3 gold? Or just the "normal" 4G production?
  What if I'm playing The Sacred Temple of the Phoenix instead? How much gold does it produce for a holding vs. for a spell/shugenja?
  A: Gold Production is a stat on a stronghold. Nio Sensei will only affect that, not abilities that produce gold as well. Jon Palmer, "Aramasu's Vigilance and Nio Sensei", 2 Apr 2013
• Q: Playing Nio Sensei with Imperial Palace of Fu Leng, is my starting honor 15 or 14?
  I know in the old days it was "ruled" impossible for even a Sensei to affect SL Horde strongholds starting honor (and so not cause them to lose the game immediately), but in the present Legacy rules what I find is:
  "Sensei modifiers will not reduce your Starting Family Honor below -19. If a card effect causes you to change Sensei during the game, the new Sensei's Starting Family Honor modifier does not affect your current Family Honor, but any changes to the Province Strength modifier do affect the strength of your provinces. "
  So the restriction on SFH modifying by the Sensei would only apply to "-19" SL strongholds?
  Thanks,
  Jose
  A: As you describe, the game rules allow a player with -19 Starting Family Honour to play Nio Sensei without losing immediately. The rule you quote obviously does not apply if you start on 15 honour, so an Imperial Palace of Fu Leng player with Nio Sensei will begin the game on 14 honour. Alex Jones, "Imperial Palace of Fu Leng with Nio Sensei", 28 Feb 2013
• Q: Hi, can i use a Nio Sensei with Spawning ground stronghold, as my Starting honor will drop to -20 ?
  A: (Replying to a player: "assuming [jade] rulings this won't make you lose and I doubt they ever reversed it") Yes, the standing Ruling is that -FH Sensei will not cause Shadowlands Horde to auto-lose. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 10 Oct 2026