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, 14 March 2014
Regarding this post, I am unclear as to what happens in the following situation:
I control the imperial favour and my stronghold is bowed.
I announce the action on Imperial Summons (controlling the imperial favour satisfies the good faith rule): Favor Political Open: Bow your Stronghold or discard the Imperial Favor to bow a target Personality.
Can I choose to bow my stronghold as an effect? It can't bow (as it is already bowed), so the personality I targeted won't bow either, but is the choice and its (failed) effects legal? If not, why not?
Ben Higgins (rules official), 14 March 2014
Regarding this post, I am unclear as to what happens in the following situation:
I control the imperial favour and my stronghold is bowed.
I announce the action on Imperial Summons (controlling the imperial favour satisfies the good faith rule): Favor Political Open: Bow your Stronghold or discard the Imperial Favor to bow a target Personality.
Can I choose to bow my stronghold as an effect? It can't bow (as it is already bowed), so the personality I targeted won't bow either, but is the choice and its (failed) effects legal? If not, why not?
As long as you can fulfill the ability to announce the Action by satisfying the Good Faith Rule (which in your example, you have), you can indeed choose to use an alternate Favor requirement.
If that alternate requirement fails, the effect will fail as well.