A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 1 November 2012
viewtopic.php?p=1321695#p1321695
Incense Mill will only negate effects that specify the target Personality. Effects that apply to all Personalities or a group of Personalities specified by some condition will not be negated by Incense Mill.
Incense Mill: Battle/Open: Target a Personality: Negate all current Force penalties on him. Negate any cards’ effects that say he may not perform actions (this turn). The Bite of Winter: (trait) Personalities and Followers have -1F.
Does the quoted ruling mean that Incense Mill (along with other individual force penalty negation, like Deep Roots) not negate global force penalty effects (like the Bite of Winter, Shiotome Plains)?
Alex Jones (rules official), 4 November 2012
viewtopic.php?p=1321695#p1321695
Incense Mill: Battle/Open: Target a Personality: Negate all current Force penalties on him. Negate any cards’ effects that say he may not perform actions (this turn). The Bite of Winter: (trait) Personalities and Followers have -1F.
Does the quoted ruling mean that Incense Mill (along with other individual force penalty negation, like Deep Roots) not negate global force penalty effects (like the Bite of Winter, Shiotome Plains)?
The -1F from The Bite of Winter is applied to each Personality and Follower as a separate -1F effect. Incense Mill will negate only the -1F effect on the targeted Personality.
The text you quoted applies only to Incense Mill's performance prevention negation.