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, 2 April 2013
I was curious about the timing between these two cards. When does the attacking army begin for Damesh's trait? Can I attack with both, use Qalyar, and have the PS be equal to the lowest in the game (Damesh) -2? If so, what happens if Damesh leaves the battle and returns? Or does Damesh overpower Qalyar and set it to the lowest while he is present? If this is the case, what happens if I use both, and Damesh is sent home?
Text:
Qalyar Recon Reaction: after engaging at a battlefield: you have reconossaince there. Give its province +2 or -2 strength.
Damesh While Damesh is in the current attacking army, the strength of the current battlefield's province is set to the lowest strength of all provinces in the game.
Jon Palmer (rules official), 2 April 2013
I was curious about the timing between these two cards. When does the attacking army begin for Damesh's trait? Can I attack with both, use Qalyar, and have the PS be equal to the lowest in the game (Damesh) -2? If so, what happens if Damesh leaves the battle and returns? Or does Damesh overpower Qalyar and set it to the lowest while he is present? If this is the case, what happens if I use both, and Damesh is sent home?
Text:
Qalyar Recon Reaction: after engaging at a battlefield: you have reconossaince there. Give its province +2 or -2 strength.
Damesh While Damesh is in the current attacking army, the strength of the current battlefield's province is set to the lowest strength of all provinces in the game.
This can be figured out using the normal procedure for calculating stats.
When Damesh is in the attacking army, he will give the Province Strength a penalty equal to the difference between its current strength and the lowest strength. Qalyar can then react to give it another -2 upon engaging.
If Damesh leaves the army, his penalty goes away, so its effective PS becomes its PS prior to the attack, -2 from Qalyar. If Damesh then moves back in, he calculates a new penalty. In this case the new penalty will be the difference between the current (prior - 2) strength and the lowest strength, and will effectively override Qalyar.