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, 8 March 2008
BRUTE FORCE: Target one of your unbowed Personalities with 5 or greater base Force: Bow a target enemy Personality with lower current Force than your Personality. Destroy the enemy Personality if your Personality has more than twice his Force.
DETERMINATION: Before you announce an action, target one of your Samurai: The action can not have its effects negated or have its targeting changed. After the action destroys any Personality, remove him from the game.
SOLDIER'S FATE: After another player's action targets a Personality in your army: Give him a Force bonus equal to his Personal Honor. If he is no longer a legal target for the action, negate its effects. If his Personal Honor is 3 or higher, he straightens after the Combat Segment ends.
Hi. I have an unbowed personality with 8 Force. I play Determination and Brute Force in order to bow and kill an opposing personality with 3 Force and 3 Personal Honor. What happen if my opponement reacts with soldier's fate? Is the kill negated as the opposing personality reaches 6 Force? Or is it not because of determination?
Thanks for your time and science.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 8 March 2008
I have an unbowed personality with 8 Force. I play Determination and Brute Force in order to bow and kill an opposing personality with 3 Force and 3 Personal Honor. What happen if my opponement reacts with soldier's fate?
The force bonus from A Soldier's Fate occurs (does not change targeting or negate anything), but destruction is not negated due to Determination.
A player, 8 March 2008
Re: this question.
Why would Determination matter? In my understanding Soldier's Fate gives the Force bonus but the Personality is still a legal target of Brute Force (as 8>3+3). Therefore Soldier's Fate doesn't try to negate anything but when the effect of Brute Force checks to see if 8 is more than the double of 3 it will suddenly check 8 against 6 and will not even attempt to destroy the Personality. Playing Determination won't change a thing. I hope you can understand my reasoning.
Martin Lund (rules official), 1 April 2008
Re: this question.
Why would Determination matter? In my understanding Soldier's Fate gives the Force bonus but the Personality is still a legal target of Brute Force (as 8>3+3). Therefore Soldier's Fate doesn't try to negate anything but when the effect of Brute Force checks to see if 8 is more than the double of 3 it will suddenly check 8 against 6 and will not even attempt to destroy the Personality. Playing Determination won't change a thing. I hope you can understand my reasoning.
To clarify, Determination doesn't matter here at all. There is no destruction effect to Negate in the first place.
By the time you get to "Destroy the enemy Personality if your Personality has more than twice his Force." your Personality does not have more than twice his Force, so the effect is never introduced.