Private Trader

Legend of the Five Rings card from Samurai Edition, Promotional–Samurai, Glory of the Empire

Card Type

Holding

Gold Cost

3

Keywords

Legacy

Card Text

w: Produce 2 Gold, or 3 Gold when paying for an ability on a Strategy which may only pay for that ability.

Legality

Race for the Throne (Samurai)

Deck

Dynasty

Notes

The promotional version of this card was accidentally printed with the Lotus bug

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, “Private Trader Legacy Bow this card: Produce 2 Gold, or 3 Gold when paying a Gold Cost on an Action card.” [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 150

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can you have both A Favor Returned and Search for a Private Trader in Legacy? Both cards are not mutually exclusive... the only way I could see it not working is because of some kind of made rule saying you could not.
  [Mod edit: Thread title. -ZF]
  A: That's why we made one.
  http://rules.l5r.com/Legacy_Format_Changes_to_the_Current_Rulebook#p._24.2C_Legacy_Holdings:
  "p. 24, Legacy Holdings REPLACE "If you're not going first, you may now search" with "If you're not going first and have no holdings in play, you may now search"
  ADD: "If you have put a Legacy Holding in play this way, you may not bring holdings in play except through another player's card effects until your first turn begins.
  EDIT: And keep the questions to the Rules forum, please! Thread moved. Brook Cunningham, "A Favor Returned and Private Trader", 25 Jul 2008
• Q: Political Reaction: Before a player pays an action’s gold cost, bow one of your target Courtiers: The player may choose to raise that Gold cost by 2. If he does not choose this, he loses 2 Honor.
  A: - Marty Lund Deputy Rules Monkey Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Gold Cost, when referred to as a card’s stat, is a stat that initially determines the amount of Gold needed to pay to bring the card into play. Example: “Target a card with 7 or more Gold Cost;” “This card has -2 Gold Cost if you are a Crane Clan player”
  Gold cost, when referred to in the context of paying a cost or bringing a card into play, is the temporary amount of Gold required to pay on that occasion, which may be initially derived from the Gold Cost stat. Example: “Bring him into play, reducing his Gold cost by 2”
  A: In the case of Private Trader you're looking at the second type of reference (the one you pay for), not the card-stat reference.
  There are Action cards with abilities that list Gold Costs specific to that ability, circumstance, or chosen option. Versatile Army is one such card. Charge of the First Legion is another example of a different implementation. Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Open: Pay 20 Gold: Bring all face-down Personalities attached to your Provinces into play, ignoring costs. Limited: If any other player has at least 35 Family Honor, bring up to 2 face-down Personalities attached to your Provinces into play, ignoring costs.
  A: One card with a "0" Gold cost stat. If you play the Open ability, the Action has a Gold Cost (and yes, that's a "Gold cost on an action card") of 20. If you play the Limited ability, the Action has a Gold Cost of 0. Martin Lund, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Regarding this : viewtopic.php?f=59&t=65994
  And considering this : Will * Reads, "Will *G 1FV Dark Virtue Battle: If there are any enemy units at the current battlefield, target a dead Samurai Personality you own: Bring him into play there, paying 2 less Gold and ignoring Honor Requirements." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] * The gold paid is the cost of the Personality, not Will. [ML, 9 November 2007]
  And this entry in the cost section of the Comprehensive rules (this is the only place where I find a reference to the location of the gold cost of a card, so it may not be relevant): Additionally, the Gold cost of an Action card, found in the gold coin symbol, is a mandatory cost of taking any action that appears on that card.
  Why does Private Trader pays 3 for Versatile Army? There is no Gold Cost in the "coin" symbol of the card, it's a cost in the cost section, requiring Gold. Or maybe a better definition of what is a Gold Cost is in order?
  A: Don't try to extend how Will works to any other card. The whole reason that there is an entry in the wiki for that specific card is that Will, specifically, is not worded quite as it should be. Zen Faulkes, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Does Private Trader produce three gold towards paying the three gold needed for Versatile Army?
  A: Yes, you are "paying for a Gold cost on an Action card." Doruk Özaydın, "Versatile Army and Private Trader", 28 Feb 2008
• Q: Will has a gold cost of *, and reads Dark Virtue Battle: If there are any enemy units at the current battlefield, target a dead Samurai Personality you own: Bring him into play there, paying 2 less Gold and ignoring Honor Requirements. Private Traders produce 2 gold, or 3 for an action card. Seiden Sanzo produces 2 gold, or 3 for a hero. If I bring a hero into play using the action card Will, how much gold towards the cost will the Private Trader make? If I bring a hero into play using the action card Will, how much gold towards the cost will the Seiden Sanzo make?
  A: http://rules.l5r.com/Rulings_W#Will: "The gold paid is the cost of the Personality, not Will." Zen Faulkes, "Will", 21 Feb 2008
• Q: Does Private Trader produce 3 gold for Choose Your Ground?
  A: Assuming you mean the second ability, yes. It's "a Gold Cost on an Action card" (card text), not the "Gold Cost of an action card" (which would be 0G). Zen Faulkes, "Choose Your Ground and Private Trader", 15 Oct 2007
• Q: [OBH] Does Private trader produce 3 gold when paying for Building Contract?
  A: Yes.
  (Replying to a player: "But not for Peace because there the cost is not part of the action?") Right. Not Peace, because it has not undergone an 'Ivory/20F' conversion in Oracle (and probably never will), the "paying all costs" is not part of the action's own cost. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 19 Apr 2025