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, 16 May 2015
Show Me Your Stance: "Iaijutsu Battle: Your target unbowed Human Personality challenges a target enemy Human Personality to a duel of Personal Honor. The winner gains 2 Honor. Dishonor the loser. Move him home. Bow him as he moves."
Hi guys, as a returning L5R player, I was recently corrected on a new(?) ruling concerning dueling. I am under the impression that focused cards add to the stat that is relevant to the duel. Due to the fact that dishonored personalities cannot have a personal honor higher than zero, their duel stat for Show Me Your Stance remains zero no matter how many cards focused (or other modification). I cannot find the rules that contradicts this in the rules forum or rulebook. Can someone direct me to the right place or give me a rundown on how focused cards work with dueling? Thanks in advance!
Alex Jones (rules official), 18 May 2015
Show Me Your Stance: "Iaijutsu Battle: Your target unbowed Human Personality challenges a target enemy Human Personality to a duel of Personal Honor. The winner gains 2 Honor. Dishonor the loser. Move him home. Bow him as he moves."
Hi guys, as a returning L5R player, I was recently corrected on a new(?) ruling concerning dueling. I am under the impression that focused cards add to the stat that is relevant to the duel. Due to the fact that dishonored personalities cannot have a personal honor higher than zero, their duel stat for Show Me Your Stance remains zero no matter how many cards focused (or other modification). I cannot find the rules that contradicts this in the rules forum or rulebook. Can someone direct me to the right place or give me a rundown on how focused cards work with dueling? Thanks in advance!
That is indeed how duels used to work. However, the rule now is that you total the focus values and add the duel stats. So, a dishonourable Personality does not now auto-lose a duel of Personal Honour.
(This also means that if you play Poisoned Weapon in a duel against a Personality with 3 or less chi, they'll die immediately, rather than after the chi bonus they used to get from focussing goes away.)