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
Hello, I was wondering about the following combo:
1) I play Grappling the Snake on my unbowed Monk 2) For my additional action, I play Nerve Strike against a target and bow my monk
Can I use the ability of Grappling the Snake to negate the bowing of Nerve Strike?
Nerve Strike - Battle: Bow your performing Monk and target an enemy Personality with equal or lower Chi: Reduce his Force and the Force of each of his Followers to 0. Cards in that unit may not perform actions until this battle ends.
Grappling the Snake - Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Monk: After the next time (this turn) an action targets him, you may choose either to negate its effects on your Monk, or to bow the unit of one Personality that performed it after the action resolves. You may take an additional Battle action.
Does the act of choosing my monk count as targeting or does only the actual opposed target of Nerve Strike count?
Jon Palmer (rules official), 2 April 2013
Hello, I was wondering about the following combo:
1) I play Grappling the Snake on my unbowed Monk 2) For my additional action, I play Nerve Strike against a target and bow my monk
Can I use the ability of Grappling the Snake to negate the bowing of Nerve Strike?
Nerve Strike - Battle: Bow your performing Monk and target an enemy Personality with equal or lower Chi: Reduce his Force and the Force of each of his Followers to 0. Cards in that unit may not perform actions until this battle ends.
Grappling the Snake - Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Monk: After the next time (this turn) an action targets him, you may choose either to negate its effects on your Monk, or to bow the unit of one Personality that performed it after the action resolves. You may take an additional Battle action.
Does the act of choosing my monk count as targeting or does only the actual opposed target of Nerve Strike count?
Only the actual target of Nerve Strike is targeted. "Choose your performing" is not targeting.
Additionally, Nerve Strike bows your monk as a cost, not an effect, so even if he were targeted it still wouldn't stop his bowing.