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, 6 June 2009
I need some clarification on unit force. I've heard two different lines of thought and two answers to this question:
If a unit is bowed in combat, does its actual Force rating go to zero, or is it simply WORTH zero during resolution? The rulebook I have insinuates that its merely the resolution, but I am hearing inferences that the actual entire value goes to 0 during the COMBAT segment.
Does this mean that if I am bowed during the combat segment, my clan champion can get taken out with a ranged attack of any value? Does it make units unable to use Seventh Tower when bowed, or use any cards target personalites with more force?
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 6 June 2009
If a unit is bowed in combat, does its actual Force rating go to zero(?)
http://rules.l5r.com/Glossary_U#Unit: "A unit’s Force is the total of the Forces of each unbowed Personality and Follower in the unit, or 0 if all Personalities and Followers in it are bowed."
Does this mean that if I am bowed during the combat segment, my clan champion can get taken out with a ranged attack of any value?
Ranged Attacks do not target Unit force. (http://rules.l5r.com/Glossary_R#Ranged_Attack). That Unit force is zero does not mean any individual card in it is zero.
(Yes, I know it's weird that a bunch of positive force values add to 0.)
Does it make units unable to use Seventh Tower when bowed, or use any cards target personalites with more force?
The Seventh Tower does look for Unit force, so it will see 0F for a bowed unit.
Edit: Typos fixed and slight rewording.
A player, 8 June 2009
Tamori Nari wrote - "Does it make units unable to use Seventh Tower when bowed, or use any cards target personalites with more force?"
Zen Faulkes responded - "The Seventh Tower does look for Unit force, so it will see )F when its ability is used."
Just a clarification (and I assume that ( = 0 in Zen's comment). Nari was asking if the personality performing it could perform it while bowed, or if he has zero force. I think Zen was referring to the target and not the performer? The Seventh Tower CAN in fact be used by a bowed personality, since in it's text it is comparing the performing PERSONALITY force against the opposing UNIT force. A bowed personality has the same force as he would if he were straightened.
The opposing unit, if bowed and having no conditionals, would be zero force and be able to be 7th towered by a 1 force bowed personality.
Seventh Tower text -"Battle: Target one of your Personalities and discard a card: Destroy a target unit opposing him with less total Force than your Personalities Force. "
Kindly correct if I am wrong (7th tower junky and have been using the stronghold that way through the entire arc)
~HN~