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, 19 February 2011
I did the search and could not find a ruling on this card, so I thought I would ask:
Preserve Your Forces reads:
"Reaction: After another player's action targets your Personality at the current battlefield, choose your performing Commander there: Transfer one or more of the Personality's Followers to one of your other Personalities (at any location)."
If I have 2 Commanders at battlefield A, one with a follower, and one without, and my opponent targets the Commander without the follower with Settling the Homeless ("Battle: Even if you control no units at the current battlefield: Move a target Personality without Followers home.") could I react with Preserve Your Forces to transfer a follower to the Commander that was targeted with Settling and make that Commander an ineligible target and make his action have no effect?
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 19 February 2011
Could I react with Preserve Your Forces to transfer a follower to the Commander that was targeted with Settling and make that Commander an ineligible target and make his action have no effect?
No.
Preserve Your Forces' trigger is "After" the targeting has already occurred. Making a Personality an illegal target after the targeting has already occurred will not invalidate the targeting or make the effects fail. It would take an explicit card effect for that to occur (see Night Watchers).
EDIT: And besides the fact that invalidating targets after the fact doesn't make effects fail without specific card text, Preserve Your Forces only moves Followers FROM the targeted Personality, not TO him.
A player, 21 February 2011
In regard to this.
The implication seems to be that you can still play Preserve Your Forces in this situation and move a follower onto the Personality targeted by Settling the Homeless. Would that not be an illegal play as per card text...
Preserve Your Forces reads: "Reaction: After another player's action targets your Personality at the current battlefield, choose your performing Commander there: Transfer one or more of the Personality's Followers to one of your other Personalities (at any location)." (emphasis mine)
It is legal to announce Preserve Your Forces, but since the targeted personality has no followers, the effects do nothing, yes?
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 21 February 2011
The implication seems to be that you can still play Preserve Your Forces in this situation and move a follower onto the Personality targeted by Settling the Homeless. Would that not be an illegal play as per card text...
Edited the answer to clarify.
It is legal to announce Preserve Your Forces, but since the targeted personality has no followers, the effects do nothing, yes?
Correct.