Rising Sun FAQ
113 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup and Components
- How many players can play Rising Sun, and can you play with six?
- How many actions does each player take in a 3-player game?
- How many Mandate Turns does each player get at 4, 5 or 6 players?
- Does the lowest or highest starting Honor number mean the most Honor, and who goes first?
- Does Honor or turn order reset each Season?
- Do you pick one Season card set for the whole game, and how many cards are in each Season deck?
- How many extra Monsters from the Daimyo Box or Monster Pack go into each Season?
- Do you have to use every Monster in every game?
- How are the four Shrine tiles chosen at setup?
- What if the Coins or Ronin supply runs out?
- Are you limited to the number of Monsters you have bases for?
Honor, Alliances and Negotiation
- How are ties settled in Rising Sun?
- When two abilities trigger at the same time, who decides the order?
- What happens if you lose Honor while already at the bottom of the track?
- What are the ways to gain Honor?
- When are Alliances formed, and do they carry into the next Season?
- What does an Alliance actually change?
- Are allies treated as opponents for card effects such as kills, steals or Daikaiju?
- What happens if allied players tie for the win?
- Are deals binding?
- What can be traded or given as a bribe?
- Can players give Coins or Ronin to each other during the War Phase?
- Can Ronin be given as tokens of friendship during the Tea Ceremony?
- Are secret deals allowed?
- Are Coins, Ronin and War Province tokens open information?
- Can I show the Mandate tiles I drew to my ally?
- Is Betray the only way to break an Alliance?
Mandates: Recruit, Marshal, Train, Harvest
- In what order do players perform a Political Mandate?
- Are the three unchosen Mandate tiles reshuffled?
- Does the Mandate bonus still apply if I have no ally?
- Do I have to perform a Mandate action that was chosen?
- How many figures does Recruit summon?
- Is the Recruit bonus one extra figure in total or one per Stronghold?
- Does one Recruit count as one Summon for 'after you Summon' effects?
- What is the difference between summoning and placing a figure?
- How far can I move figures with Marshal?
- How many Strongholds can I build with Marshal, and where?
- Do Strongholds count as figures or Force, and can they be destroyed?
- How many Season cards can I acquire per Train?
- Who acts first and next when Train is chosen?
- Where is a newly acquired Monster placed, and can I hold it back?
- Do Season cards I buy last all game, and what happens to unbought ones?
- Who gets Harvest rewards, and how are they decided?
- If I and my ally are both in a Province for Harvest, do our Forces combine?
- Does Way of the Merchant or Loyalty trigger once or once per Province during a Harvest?
Betray
Kami and Shrines
War Phase and Battles
- In which Provinces is war fought, and in what order?
- What if only one player, or only two allies, have Force in a war Province?
- Who takes the token if nobody has Force left after a Battle?
- Do I stay in a Battle after losing all my figures to Seppuku, a hostage or a start-of-Battle effect?
- What are the War Advantages and how are they resolved?
- How does Seppuku work?
- How does Take Hostage work?
- When are hostages returned, and do they come back to the map?
- Is the 1 VP for taking a hostage lost if the owner has no VP?
- How does Hire Ronin work, and are Ronin spent?
- How is the winner of a Battle decided?
- What counts for Imperial Poets?
- How are War Reparations paid?
- Do I score VP when I win a Battle?
- What happens when two allies and a third player fight in a Province?
- Does my Daimyo die in a lost Battle?
- Do the Coins Koi bids on War Advantages count as Ronin?
- What happens at Seasonal Cleanup?
Season Cards and Monsters
- What does Oni of Plagues stop?
- Can Oni of Plagues stop a Turtle Stronghold from moving in?
- Whom does the Fire Dragon kill, and who chooses?
- Is Earth Dragon's push optional?
- How much Force does Oni of Skulls have?
- Does Oni of Spite trigger on every Province it enters?
- How does Path of the Serpent work?
- When does Benevolence work?
- How does Mercy work?
- How does Jorogumo's control work?
- Can a Monster that counts as a Daimyo (like Yurei) get Daimyo upgrades or be Betrayed?
- Do 'if you win the Battle' monster abilities work if the monster was killed or taken hostage?
- What does Daikaiju do?
- How do Sincerity and Respect work with taking hostages?
- When does Way of the Merchant trigger?
- How does Path of the Monkey work?
- Does Oni of Hate kill a figure on entry?
- What is a Monster's Force if none is printed?
- Can Monsters be killed or taken hostage, and where do they go?
- Do Susanoo or Hotei stop a Shinto from worshipping at a Shrine?
- How does Path of the Ninja work with Recruit?
- What if no Season cards are left to buy?
Winter and Final Scoring
The Clans
- How does the Koi clan's Ronin ability work?
- Does Bonsai's 1-Coin cap apply to Strongholds, and with Train discounts?
- What can Dragonfly do?
- How do Turtle Strongholds work?
- How does Lotus change a Mandate?
- Do allies share clan abilities?
- When does the Sun clan's ability trigger?
- How does the Moon clan's limit work?
- How does Fox work?
- Can Dynasty Invasion clans use regular Monsters?