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, 24 August 2008
My current Family Honor is 0, and I target a 3 Force personality with Dastardly Tactics. The targeted personality, who has a 3 Personal Honor, reacts with A Soldier's Fate. What is the personality's Force after Dastardly Tactics resolves?
Dastardly Tactics Political Battle: Lower the Force of the Personality and of each Follower in a target enemy unit to your current Family Honor or 0, whichever is higher.
A Soldier's Fate Reaction: 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.
Thanks for your time.
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 24 August 2008
My current Family Honor is 0, and I target a 3 Force personality with Dastardly Tactics. The targeted personality, who has a 3 Personal Honor, reacts with A Soldier's Fate. What is the personality's Force after Dastardly Tactics resolves?
It will be 0.
Targeting occurs before you activate an action's effects (see Using Abilities). A Soldier's Fate reacts to Dastardly Tactics' targeting, because targeting a unit is the same as targeting its Personality (Citation). After A Soldier's Fate resolves (giving the Force bonus, amongst other things), you return to where you left off in the midst of Dastardly Tactics. Only then do you start resolving its effects, which will reduce the Personality's current Force to 0.
Thanks for your time.
It's no problem, and you're quite welcome.