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, 23 October 2013
The search function returned nothing, so I'm hoping this has not been officially answered.
Merchant Patronage seems to be referencing an action that creates an Honor gain or loss as its condition for being a legal play, but as it's not clearly stated as such, I can't find anything that's actually forcing it to Interrupt an action with a inherent gain/loss. So, I have three scenarios that seem like they could all be the correct way to play the card.
1) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action, even if the action does NOT create an Honor gain or loss. As the action fails to meet the criteria for either the first sentence (no gain or loss to redirect) or the second (no gain or loss to increase/decrease), it generates no discernible effect on Honor totals but could possibly key other other cards (e.g., Ring of the Void).
2) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action that DOES create an Honor gain or loss, but no others. If the action originated from a holding controlled by an opponent, it may be redirected by the player who plays Merchant Patronage. If that player also controls a Courtier, the loss or gain's total may be affected by bowing the Courtier.
3) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action that BOTH creates an Honor gain or loss AND originates from a holding controlled by an opponent. If the Interrupting player also controls a Courtier, the Courtier may bow to affect the total.
In essence, my issue comes with there not being a stated condition on Merchant Patronage as to what it should be Interrupting. So...uh...yeah. What exactly does Merchant Patronage Interrupt?
Jon Palmer (rules official), 2 November 2013
The search function returned nothing, so I'm hoping this has not been officially answered.
Merchant Patronage seems to be referencing an action that creates an Honor gain or loss as its condition for being a legal play, but as it's not clearly stated as such, I can't find anything that's actually forcing it to Interrupt an action with a inherent gain/loss. So, I have three scenarios that seem like they could all be the correct way to play the card.
1) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action, even if the action does NOT create an Honor gain or loss. As the action fails to meet the criteria for either the first sentence (no gain or loss to redirect) or the second (no gain or loss to increase/decrease), it generates no discernible effect on Honor totals but could possibly key other other cards (e.g., Ring of the Void).
2) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action that DOES create an Honor gain or loss, but no others. If the action originated from a holding controlled by an opponent, it may be redirected by the player who plays Merchant Patronage. If that player also controls a Courtier, the loss or gain's total may be affected by bowing the Courtier.
3) Merchant Patronage can Interrupt any action that BOTH creates an Honor gain or loss AND originates from a holding controlled by an opponent. If the Interrupting player also controls a Courtier, the Courtier may bow to affect the total.
In essence, my issue comes with there not being a stated condition on Merchant Patronage as to what it should be Interrupting. So...uh...yeah. What exactly does Merchant Patronage Interrupt?
Under Discussion
A player, 12 November 2013
Regarding this thread, has been any consensus reached on how Merchant Patronage works? Also, as a more general question, can't interrupt actions interrupt any action (as long as they are legal to play), and then the text of the interrupt will determine whether or not any of its effects happen.
For example: Mr. Skull Taker. In his action it is perfectly clear that you can use it in response to any action, but its effect will only trigger if the action it interrupts moved the target, and has a similar wording to Merchant Patronage with "If the action (meets some condition), then effect."
Thanks
A player, 15 November 2013
It's indeed Under Discussion still.
A player, 4 December 2013
I hate to badger this post back up in this forum, but the original query on the topic was posted October 23, and we still have yet to get an official clarification of how this (and presumably other) interrupts work.
Thanks!
A player, 5 December 2013
Sorry, we haven't reached a consensus yet. Please stay tuned.
A player, 20 December 2013
Apologies for the delay. Of course the problem was not specifically Merchant Patronage but the implications of the ruling.
As you may have read in the pdf detailing the rules changes for Ivory Edition, page 4, when an action's effects start with "if", that is not treated as a condition for a particular effect, but rather as a restriction affecting the entire action. The player (or the action being interrupted) must be able to meet that restriction to the best of his knowledge in order to legally take the action (following Good Faith Rule).
So, if the action is not in another player's Holding, you can't interrupt that action with Merchant Patronage.