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, 29 June 2008
It seems weird to me not to have found any questions about this, but I searched and didn't find a thing.
Heated Discussion:
Political Limited: Target another player's Personality. Create a battlefield and assign him to defend there. Assign any number of your Courtier or Magistrate Personalities to attack there. The Defender may then assign any of his Courtier or Magistrate Personalities there. Fight the battle. During the battle, before any Personality is destroyed, dishonor him instead.
The card does not ask to target an unbowed personality, but since Ambush does clarify it (and there was some questioning and errata regarding the UCP unique ninja) I was wondering if you could assing a bowed personality to defend using this action, or if the assigning would be negated if you targeted another player's bowed personality with this action.
The only relevant rule I found about this is the following:
Units led by bowed Personalities can not normally assign, either as part of the normal Attack Phase procedure, or through other effects that assign them.
Thanks in advance.
Alex Jones (rules official), 30 June 2008
It seems weird to me not to have found any questions about this, but I searched and didn't find a thing.
Heated Discussion:
Political Limited: Target another player's Personality. Create a battlefield and assign him to defend there. Assign any number of your Courtier or Magistrate Personalities to attack there. The Defender may then assign any of his Courtier or Magistrate Personalities there. Fight the battle. During the battle, before any Personality is destroyed, dishonor him instead.
The card does not ask to target an unbowed personality, but since Ambush does clarify it (and there was some questioning and errata regarding the UCP unique ninja) I was wondering if you could assing a bowed personality to defend using this action, or if the assigning would be negated if you targeted another player's bowed personality with this action.
The only relevant rule I found about this is the following:
Units led by bowed Personalities can not normally assign, either as part of the normal Attack Phase procedure, or through other effects that assign them.
Thanks in advance.
Without text creating an exception, you can not assign a bowed personality, as the rule you quoted states.
Ambush has the required exception text: "Assign another player’s target Personality to defend there, even if bowed."
Shosuro Nikai has been errata'd to have it, to better match the implication of the printed text: "Assign another player's target unit to defend there, even if its Personality is bowed, and straighten it."
Heated Discussion does not have the required exception text, and has no text that only makes sense if you can assign a bowed personality. A bowed Personality is not a legal target for Heated Discussion. See Cannot:
"2. When found in game rules text, the phrase “cannot” applies to the legality of doing something in the first place; it does not imply that doing that thing is merely negated."
A player, 30 June 2008
with regards to http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=69125&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Heated Discussion does not allow a bowed personality to assign. I would have thought that a bowed personality could be targeted by Heated Discussion, but that the assignment would fail (in the same fashion as Rapid Deployment can target a unit that has already been in attacking army during battle resolution, but the movement fails). However, the above-referenced post indicates that a bowed personality is not a legal target at all for Heated Discussion. Is this correct? If so, what is the difference bewtween Heated Discussion/personality who cannot assign and something like Rapid Deployment/personality who cannot move?
Alex Jones (rules official), 30 June 2008
with regards to http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=69125&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Heated Discussion does not allow a bowed personality to assign. I would have thought that a bowed personality could be targeted by Heated Discussion, but that the assignment would fail (in the same fashion as Rapid Deployment can target a unit that has already been in attacking army during battle resolution, but the movement fails). However, the above-referenced post indicates that a bowed personality is not a legal target at all for Heated Discussion. Is this correct? If so, what is the difference bewtween Heated Discussion/personality who cannot assign and something like Rapid Deployment/personality who cannot move?
Under discussion.