just a quick question on costs?

I have a quick question about strategies and fulfilling all requirements of a strategy. Ex. for instance do you have to do one part of a strategy to get another part as in say A Gentle Word do you have to rehonor a dishonorable personality to gain the 2 honor? I was just wondering me and my playgroup ran across this the other day playing my friend played steadfast defense(Battle: Choose your performing Monk: Straighten him. If you control a Temple, you may target a Personality or Follower and bow or straighten it.) he didn't have a monk to straighten so I was wondering if that had to be fulfilled before you got to trigger the second part? Maybe I'm wrong I know in alot of other card games you have to meet all requirements of a card to get all abilities from it. The wording sometimes gets me but hey I'm new to game so forgive my stupidity Thanks in advance for the help!

for the record, there is a rules forum where this would better go. A: because its a rules question. and B: less chance somebody like me (who might be wrong. I don't think I am, but its certainly not my job to be right on this.) will answer and cause all sorts of problems.

Anyway, to answer your question.

The cost is "have a performing monk" (and I guess be able to announce a battle action, but that's not quite the same as a cost). Do you have a monk? if yes, and he can perform actions, and be targeted (choose follows targeting rules, so he must be at the battlefield or somehow move there in the effects) then proceed to effects.

now effects: Straighten him (well, if he's already straight that doesn't happen. you can't react to him straightening because he didn't. it just does nothing) <period> condition: If you control a temple: you may target a personality or follower and bow or straighten it <period> You didn't have to meet required targeting, because it was a conditional effect (it both had a condition and said the words "may" )

The point is... yes, you require a monk to straighten... but he doesn't have to have the need to be straightened. He could already have been straightened another way like the start of the turn or just having entered play that way. If you didn't have a monk that can perform a straighten at all (or he was somewhere else where he couldn't be targeted by 'choose'), then you can't choose him to be performing and thus cannot meet the costs. That would have the condition "performing bowed monk" He can in fact still bow a target if you control a temple. Its not a cost that he straightens, its an effect... failure for effects to happen doesn't effect the rest of the effects (I emphasized the periods to help define clearly different effects). If somehow "the effects" of an action that would cause him to straighten would be negated... then I suppose they would all be negated (however I can't think of any cards that do that right now. Just a lot that 'negate the next straighten' or something similar)

Or in short: from recent cards, everything before the colon in the card text must be targettable. In the case of A Gentle Word:Th

Limited: Choose your performing Magistrate and target a dishonorable Personality: Rehonor him. Gain 2 Honor.

You must have a Magistrate, who is designated as performing the action but not specified as unbowed so can be bowed but must be capable of performing actions. This matters if your magistrate was targeted by Daigotsu Hotaku's ability so that they couldn't perform actions.

You must also be able to target a dishonourable personality. I believe those two targets must be different, but I could be wrong on that.

So - magistrate capable of performing actions and a dishonourable personality, which can be yours or your opponents.

Thanks guys! Sorry about postings here ill pay more attention to I post from here on