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, 12 November 2007
I am unclear about the effects that bowed cards cannot engage in. My friend assures me that bowed cards cannot be targeted, and yet several cards that straighten cards require targeting... I was convinced that while you could target a bowed card that it could not perform any actions itself, ergo a bowed personality could be targeted by Determination because the samurai does not perform an action, however although a bowed personality could be targeted by Seikitsu Mountains they could not perform the action of moving home. How far off base am I? What are bowed cards capable of doing other than being straightened?
Thank you.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 12 November 2007
Martin Lund (rules official), 13 November 2007
The only thing that is uniformly prohibited in the rules due to bowed state is using an ability that is part of a bowed card (either printed on it or added to it by effect). To use an ability of a bowed card, the ability must say, "even if this card is bowed," or something to that effect.
Using the ability of a non-bowed card (like an Action card) that happens to target or be performed by a bowed card is not prohibited in the Rulebook. It may, however, be prohibited by individual card text. Obviously, "target one of your unbowed Samurai," isn't going to be able to target a bowed Samurai anymore than it can target an unbowed Shugenja.
- Marty Lund Deputy Rules Monkey