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, 1 September 2007
Regarding http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=61036
I'm sorry if this has been answered before, as I have not been able to find something that described the Obsidian Dragon affecting something AFTER a previous chi penalty was applied, only before another Chi Penalty was applied.
If someone uses and affect to lower a Personalities Chi (Earth Becomes Sky, Chuda Rintaro, Muketsu, etc.) and then they Ring of Water the Obsidian Dragon into the battle, would the Obsidian Dragon then kill them with a chi penalty, or only reduce them to one?
Chris Fuchs (rules official), 1 September 2007
Regarding http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=61036
I'm sorry if this has been answered before, as I have not been able to find something that described the Obsidian Dragon affecting something AFTER a previous chi penalty was applied, only before another Chi Penalty was applied.
If someone uses and affect to lower a Personalities Chi (Earth Becomes Sky, Chuda Rintaro, Muketsu, etc.) and then they Ring of Water the Obsidian Dragon into the battle, would the Obsidian Dragon then kill them with a chi penalty, or only reduce them to one?
The Obsidian Dragon penalty will not reduce someone below 1 chi.
You will need another penalty after Obsidian Dragon to chi kill someone.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 1 September 2007
If someone uses and affect to lower a Personalities Chi (Earth Becomes Sky, Chuda Rintaro, Muketsu, etc.) and then they Ring of Water the Obsidian Dragon into the battle, would the Obsidian Dragon then kill them with a chi penalty, or only reduce them to one?
Order won't matter. The Obsidian Dragon imposes a minimum on its own penalty (not the Chi stat). Which is admittedly unusual.
I think this is how it works.
A Personality with base 3C and base 3PH already has -1C penalty. The Obsidian Dragon comes in. Its tries to give a -3C penalty, but that would violate its text of "will not reduce below 1", so the Obsidian Dragon's penalty to the other Personality becomes -1C.
Note that this is not blanket protection from Chi death. If the base 3C Personality gets another -2C penalty from someplace else, Obsidian Dragon's minimum to its own bonus won't save the Personality.
Yes, it could probably be worded in way that is more technically correct but harder to understand at first reading.