Oath of Fealty

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Pre-Imperial Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Battle of Beiden Pass, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Pearl Edition, Ivory Edition, Shadowlands, Anvil of Despair, Crimson and Jade, Time of the Void, Hidden Emperor Starter, Scorpion Clan Coup Starter, Promotional–Ivory

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Limited: Permanently remove all Clan Alignments from all your Human Personalities without your Clan Alignment, permanently give them your Clan Alignment, and give them each a +1F/+1C token.

Focus Value

3

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Oath of Fealty 0G 3FV Limited: Your Personalities "swear fealty" to you. Each of your Personalities without your Faction's trait permanently gains +1F/+1C and your Faction's trait and permanently loses any other Faction traits (except Monk, Naga, Ninja, Ratling or Spirit) and the Unaligned trait." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 26
• If a more Experienced Personality is overlaid over a less Experienced version that has been affected by Oath of Fealty, any Faction traits possessed by the earlier version that were removed by Oath of Fealty are still gone. Any new Faction traits of the more Experienced version are kept. [ZF, netnews, 8 March 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 26
• Q: So if I play Oath of Fealty in a Brotherhood deck, all my non-monks gain the Monk trait? A: Exactly. And to answer your next question, yes, this means they can start doing monkly things like using kiho. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 13
• Q: What happens if I play Oath of Fealty in a non-Naga deck and convert some Naga Personalities to my clan? Do they stop receiving Naga card bonuses? A: It depends. Remember, "any card with 'Foo' in the title or trait area is considered to be a 'Foo' card" (p. 31). The Naga trait acts like a Clan affiliation (p. 32), so it gets added/removed by Oath of Fealty, but card titles don't change. A card with the word "Naga" in its title will always be a "Naga card", no matter what Clan it is. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 19
• Q: But what about the opposite case: I play an Oath on some Monks in a non-Brotherhood deck. Do they LOSE the Monk trait? That doesn't seem right. "Monk" is a profession, like "Shugenja". A: With the release of Crimson & Jade, "Monk" works like a Clan Affiliation, so it will be stripped by swearing the Oath. Think of them as forsaking their ascetic ways to embrace their new Clan's philosophies. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Issue 6), p. 8

Rules Q&A

• Q: From the Rules Archive: Bonuses: Increasing an existing bonus (e.g., the fluctuating bonus from a Celestial Sword) is not a new force bonus, and cannot be used for effects triggered by a Personality receiving a force bonus. [JA, 5 July 2001]
  Hoshi Wayan (Experienced 2): The increase to bonuses, even permanent ones, last until the end of the turn. [JA, 2 May 2003] ----------------------------- The important text from Wayan: Reaction: After Wayan gains a Force bonus, destroy a Tattoo token on him to raise the bonus by his Personal Honor. ----------------------------- After he gains a permanent bonus (Oath of Fealty, Avalanche Tattoo), it is there and permanent. Then a token is removed and it is inceased (which does not constitute a new, seperate force bonus), raising it to its new value. The increase is not a new bonus, just an increase to an already existing one, so why does he lose the increase at the end of the turn?
  A: Because Wayan's Reaction is a seperate effect without a listed duration. That means that *it's* effects expire at the end of the turn. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for June 12th", 12 Jun 2003
• Q: I take control of, say, a Dragon personality with Show [of Good Faith]. I play Oath of Fealty on him, changing him to Lion Clan. Does he remain Lion Clan?
  A: Gold Edition rules, pg. 43: "Swearing fealty is permanent." Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 17 April 2003, Part 2", 18 Apr 2003
• Q: And, this is not a rules question as such, but the rules now say that if a Personality undergoes an Oath of Fealty (originally not being of your clan) and overlays an Experienced version (the latter not being of your clan), the Experienced peep now has your clan trait. How long has this been so?
  A: A very long time. The gaining of your clan trait was, after all, a permanent change, just like the +1/+1 bonus. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 January 2002", 23 Jan 2002
• Q: Now that Ratlings are a clan, i just thought i'd check the state of oath being played on them and then losing their former clan alignements. Although it would be amusing if a ratling swore to another clan and suddenly became human, i think it might screw up some gameplay :).
  A: A card with the printed Ratling trait will not lose it when swearing fealty. And even if it did, whether a Ratling or Naga card is human or not is determined by the card's *printed* traits, which swearing fealty does not change. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 6-9 July 2001", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: What matters is card text. Since there exists an Agasha Personality with an alignment other than "Dragon Clan" (Agasha Genai Exp.), "Agasha" is a legal choice.
  Gee, you got the easy ones. The original poster didn't even consider the stranger situations with Oath of Fealty or Ronin Dojo. ;} Let's see... in my Unicorn deck I can use Ronin Dojo to give Moto Gaheris the Ninja trait, so he is now a member of another clan. This means when "Agasha Join..." comes up, I can name Moto and get Tsume in for just 2 gold! Woohoo!
  (Seems legal, no matter how twisted and wrong it is in concept. ;)
  A: You must have missed where I said that it's only the global card set that matters. In-game changes don't. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for late February 2001", 10 Mar 2001
• Q: If I play Oath of Fealty, does the ability also include personalities not in play at the time I play the card[?]
  A: All effects, unless they specify otherwise, only affect cards in play. So, no, Oath does not effect your out-of-play Personalities. Brook Cunningham, "Oath of Fealty", 22 Mar 2014
• Q: Just wanted to confirm that Bayushi Nitoshi XP1 (http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=10480,#hashid=f29ae0a720c346db52915168ebb0f637,#cardcount=1) is not Loyal? I know that these are very obvious but just want to confirm for my play group before I throw him in other decks.
  Assuming he is not loyal he is a legal target for: 1) Oath of Fealty (http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=5641,#hashid=e3523e04438c1d1e58b4cf98d16c55ee,#cardcount=0) ? 2) Suikihime's Sanction (http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=10557,#hashid=9121e672e1aed5183522d884b20ec2fc,#cardcount=3) ? a) if Suikihime's Sanction is legal to play on him he retains both Clan Alignments correct?
  A: You are correct, he is not loyal. As such for a non-Scorpion player he will be affected by Oath of Fealty (tho it doesn't target), and you may target him with Suikihime's Sanction, giving him your Clan's alignment as well as Scorpion. Jon Palmer, "Bayushi Nitoshi XP", 7 Feb 2014
• Q: I play Unaligned Stronghold (like The Maw's Grave) and have 2 Human Personalities (Lion Clan and unaligned Ronin) in play. Will Oath of Fealty give both F/C tokens under IvE rules?
  A: Technically yes.
  Though to editorialize for a moment, for thematic and mechanical purposes, I'd suggest banning Oath of Fealty from Legacy/Big Deck, because the Ivory MRP in no way works properly in those Formats any longer. Besides not taking into account the existence of Unaligned Strongholds per your question, it also now wipes Monk, Naga, Ninja, Ratling, and Spirit off of Personalities! Brook Cunningham, "Oath of Fealty and Unaligned player", 14 Jan 2014
• Q: Can I play Oath of Fealty out of Temple of the Ninth Kami (or any Shadowlands stronghold, basically) to give a permanent +1F/+1C to my personalities in play (since they do not have my "clan alignment" per http://rules.l5r.com/Legacy_Format#Legacy_Clans)?
  Temple of the Ninth Kami oracle text (there's a typo here btw): You will not gain or lose Honor. You may not take Political actions or actions that cause other players unconditional Honor losses. When paying for a Shadowlands card, bow this card: Produce 4 Gold. Limited: Any number of times per turn, if you control a Personality, bow this card, and target another player's Personality: The target's controller may choose for him duel any of your Personalities; if he did not, dishonor him. Destroy the duel's loser.
  Oath of Fealty: Limited: Your Personalities "swear fealty" to you. Permanently give +1F/+1C and your Clan alignment to all your Personalities without your Clan alignment. Permanently remove all other Clan alignments from them, except Monk, Naga, Ninja, Ratling, or Spirit.
  Thanks!
  A: Oath of Fealty has always previously been ruled not to work for Shadowlands Horde players.
  With this in mind, the text in the Oracle has been amended slightly, to work with the current Legacy Rules: Limited: Your Personalities "swear fealty" to you. Permanently give +1F/+1C and your Clan alignment to all your Personalities who would gain your Clan alignment. Permanently remove all other Clan alignments from them, except Monk, Naga, Ninja, Ratling, or Spirit.
  Since Personalities will not gain the Clan Alignment "Shadowlands Horde", this will have no effect if you are a Shadowlands Horde player. Alex Jones, "Oath of Fealty out of SL stronghold", 13 Feb 2013
• Q: So….. you could stack oath of fealty? Keep giving them +1F/+1C tokens?
  A: Yep. They didn't gain your CA from the last OoF since you don't have one, so they'll still be affected by later ones. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 25 Oct 2025
• Q: [open] if you do not have a clan alignment and you play Oath of fealty. Do personalities with and without clan alignments still get the +1F/+1c token? Do personalities with clan alignments lose the clan alignments?
  A: ...per the MRP of Oath of Fealty and the 20F Rules, yes, I see no reason that playing the card out of a Stronghold with truly no Clan Alignment (Maw's Grave, Sunrise Keep, etc) wouldn't work as you say. Personalities without your Clan Alignment (that they couldn't ever have because you don't have one either) all lose their own and gain +1/+1 tokens. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 25 Oct 2025