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.
The first action of Claw and Shell reads:
"Open: Destroy one or two Personalities or attachments with base Gold Cost of 0."
If there is no personality nor attachement with a base Gold Cost of 0 in play, can i still play Claw and Shell for it's open action.
If there is no personality nor attachement with a base Gold Cost of 0 in play, can i still play Claw and Shell for it's open action[?]
Yes.
This is a variation of, "Is an action legal if an effect can't happen?" This is a question that is frequently asked. As such, it can be found in the FAQ.
Does Claw and Shell not follow the rules of mandatory targeting? I read the other other thread and was curious why it could be played with no targets. If the card read:
Open: Destroy up to 2 personalities or attachments with 0G.
I could then understand how you could do it if they have no targets. The card expressly says:
Open: Destroy one or two Personalities or attachments with base Gold Cost of 0.
I figured that since it only give the option of 1 or 2 targets that you couldn't have 0 targets for it.
Does Claw and Shell not follow the rules of mandatory targeting?
Of course it does follow these rules, as all actions do. However there is no target to choose for its Open action, so they are never relevant. The "one or two Personalities or attachments with base Gold Cost of 0" are chosen (during the step of action resolution) but they are not targeted.
Glossary, Targeting: "The word “target” must appear as a verb or an adjective for the procedure to be considered targeting -- just “choosing” something is not targeting."