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, 11 May 2015
so i feel like there's a particular line out of the CR that does not make any sense.
"The original attack effect may only target a card that it, as well as each of the combining actions, could target. All other characteristics of the attack effect come from the original. You may combine more than one attack effect with the same initial action."
I feel like its important to note that before i choose to interrupt by combining, i've already chosen my target. Its here that the CR doesn't seem to make sense to me. If after choosing a target with a follower with a tested blade fear action, i now add to the value in the interrupt window with the fear 4 of the spider clan armor, what happens to the effect? The CR doesn't state the the spider armor's fear 4 has to have matching characteristics to be combined, nor does the fear 4 i'm adding target the personality.
"instead of creating a separate attack effect, each of those actions’ relevant attack effects adds its own strength (with any modifications) to the strength of the original attack effect." and "Because only the original effect actually targets the card,"
After adding the fear 4 is my whole fear action negated?
Alex Jones (rules official), 12 May 2015
so i feel like there's a particular line out of the CR that does not make any sense.
"The original attack effect may only target a card that it, as well as each of the combining actions, could target. All other characteristics of the attack effect come from the original. You may combine more than one attack effect with the same initial action."
I feel like its important to note that before i choose to interrupt by combining, i've already chosen my target. Its here that the CR doesn't seem to make sense to me. If after choosing a target with a follower with a tested blade fear action, i now add to the value in the interrupt window with the fear 4 of the spider clan armor, what happens to the effect? The CR doesn't state the the spider armor's fear 4 has to have matching characteristics to be combined, nor does the fear 4 i'm adding target the personality.
"instead of creating a separate attack effect, each of those actions’ relevant attack effects adds its own strength (with any modifications) to the strength of the original attack effect." and "Because only the original effect actually targets the card,"
After adding the fear 4 is my whole fear action negated?
The combining actions need to be able to target the chosen card: if you choose a Follower, or a Personality without Followers, as the target of Tested Blade's action, you can successfully combine the Fear with that of the Ancestral Armor of the Spider Clan.
If, however, you choose a Personality with Followers as the Tested Blade's target, when you check target legality in Step E of the Action Sequence, Action Resolution, you find that the Personality would not be a legal target for the Fear effect from the Ancestral Armor of the Spider Clan, so the Personality fails to be a legal target for the original action's Fear effect, and the action fails.
Note that the action from the Ancestral Armor of the Spider Clan does not actually target the Personality, which is why you may announce it: you only check, afterwards, if it would be able to target.