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, 16 January 2009
If one of my Moto "Obsidian Champion" Chai is destroyed, if I use Hope from Death, is he overlayed as an Obsidian Champion (with 10 Force, dishonored and his fear ability), or just as a Moto Chai ?
Thanks !
Arrival of the Obsidian Champion : Open: Lose 3 Honor. Dishonor one of your target Personalities with a Gold Cost of 9 or greater. Permanently set his Force to 10 and his Chi to 2. Permanently give him Shadowlands and the ability, “Fear Battle: Bow each Follower with 4 or less Force in a target unit.”
Hope from Death : Reaction: After one of your Human Personalities is destroyed during battle, pay his gold cost unless you are a Phoenix Clan player: Overlay his card on one of your target Human Personalities at the current battlefield, ignoring title and experience levels.
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 16 January 2009
If one of my Moto "Obsidian Champion" Chai is destroyed, if I use Hope from Death, is he overlayed as an Obsidian Champion (with 10 Force, dishonored and his fear ability), or just as a Moto Chai ?
Yes, the overlaying "Obsidian Champion" would still have his Force/Chi bonuses/penalties, Fear ability, and Shadowlands.
Changes like these aren't "forgotten" unless the card leaves play and goes to an area where it is face-down (see here). That does not occur in your scenario.
EDIT: I originally answered the new "stack" would still be dishonorable! Wrong-o. The game-state of the new stack (like "honorable" or "dishonorable") is goverened by the underlying Personality (see rule quoted below). Sorry.
A player, 16 January 2009
If I have a Doji "Obsidian Champion" Bob and a Doji Sue, and Doji Sue dies, I use Hope from death to overlay her onto Doji Bob, do the Obsidian Champion effects go away?
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 16 January 2009
If I have a Doji "Obsidian Champion" Bob and a Doji Sue, and Doji Sue dies, I use Hope from death to overlay her onto Doji Bob, do the Obsidian Champion effects go away?
No.
http://rules.l5r.com/Physically_marked_card_states#Overlaying:
"The underlying card’s attachments, tokens, and game state, including ongoing effects, also apply to the new stack, but this does not transfer or attach anything, or begin or end any game state on a card. Specifically, existing bonuses and penalties to the underlying card’s stats will transfer to the overlaying card."
Bob's dishonorable game state and all the ongoing effects of Arrival of the Obsidian Champion (Force/Chi bonuses/penalties, Fear ability, Shadowlands keyword) remain.
But make sure you do the math correctly! Sue's Force/Chi does not become 10/2. Whatever bonuses/penalities were needed to bring Bob's stats to 10F/2C will be applied to Sue, resulting in new numbers if her F/C are different than Bob's (including due to any bonuses and penalities of her own!).