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, 30 March 2008
Hello all, I tried doing a search for this, but could not find an answer. Sorry in advance if this has come up before. If a personality's personal honor goes above 5 while you are playing The Utaku Plains and is then lowered by some means (other than dishonor) does the amount that the personality would be over 5 compensate (as force penalties do when dropping force below zero)? In direct example: Player is using the Utaku Plains stronghold and has Utaku Yu Pan out. Automatically she is a five PH. He attaches a Doji Armor to her, which would normally make her PH a 6, but due to the cap, it's restricted to 5. Player B is playing Houritsu Mura and has a Magistrate in play. Player A attacks Player B. Player B defends by assigning his Magistrate. Player A assigns Yu Pan to attack the province Player B has defended with the Magistrate.
What is Yu Pan's Personal Honor? 1. 4+1+1=5 for a total of five? 2. 4+1+1 = 6 Reduced to 5 due to the restriction, then 5-1=4 for a total of four?
Utaku Plains: Your Personalities have +1 PH and a maximum Personal Honor of 5 while in play.
Houritsu Mura: Personalities opposing one or more of your Magistrates have -1PH.
Doji Armor: This Personality has +1PH.
Utaku Yu Pan Printed Personal Honor of 4
Thanks in advance!
A player, 30 March 2008
If a personality's personal honor goes above 5 while you are playing The Utaku Plains and is then lowered by some means (other than dishonor) does the amount that the personality would be over 5 compensate (as force penalties do when dropping force below zero)?
General rules about stats; Maximum and minimum values, bonuses and penalties: "To get a stat's current value at any given time, do steps A through C, below: A: Apply all current bonuses and penalties. B: If the total is below 0, treat it as 0. (Does not apply to Family Honor, Honor Requirements, and stats with a + or – sign such as an Item’s Force and Chi stats.) C: If the total is less than a minimum or more than a maximum, treat it as the minimum or maximum."
What is Yu Pan's Personal Honor?
Let's follow those three steps. A. 4 (base PH) + 1 (Utaku Plains) + 1 (Doji Armor) - 1 (Houritsu Mura) = 5. B. The total is not below 0. C. The total is neither less than a minimum nor more than a maximum. So Yu Pan's Personal Honor is 5.