Effects

From Legend of the Five Rings Rules

Contents 1 Effects 1.1 Definition of effects 1.2 Order of effects 1.3 Duration of effects 1.4 Tracking rule 1.5 Delayed effects 1.6 Indefinite conditional effects 1.7 Choices 1.8 Blind cards rule 1.9 Source of effects 1.10 Effects in and out of play 1.11 Negating effects 1.11.1 Duration of negation effects 1.12 Substituting effects 1.13 Conflicting effects

[edit] Effects

Actions and traits on cards and in the rules, and aspects of the rules themselves, have effects on cards, areas, players and aspects of the game. This section contains rules covering the interpretation and scope of effects.

[edit] Definition of effects

An effect is anything, other than a cost, that changes the stats, traits, abilities, restrictions, or capabilities of a card, a player, a game entity (such as Provinces), or the game state.

Each individual change to a card, a player, a game entity (such as Provinces), or the game state is a separate effect.

Restrictions, targeting, and costs are not effects. Aspects of card memory (such as the fact that a card has been in a battle this turn, or has used its ability) are also not effects.

[edit] Order of effects

Effects occur in the order they are written.

All effects are separate, even if joined by the word "and."

EXCEPTION: Multiple effects preceded with modifier "may" must be chosen together in an all-or-none fashion, although each resolves separately and can be negated separately. See Choices, below.

If multiple effects are caused by a single piece of text they occur simultaneously, unless otherwise specified by language such as “consecutively.”
Examples: “Bow all Oni”; “Dishonor two Samurai”.

When simultaneous effects caused by a single piece of text create multiple game procedures containing more than one step, each step of each procedure takes place simultaneously, in parallel.
Example: When instructed "Bring into play all face-up Personalities in your provinces," the entering-play procedure actually has five steps (see Card Types, Using Personalities). So, each Personality simultaneously enters its entering-play area (step A); then, each Personality's restrictions are checked simultaneously (step B); and so forth.

[ADDED February 5 2008]

EXCEPTION 1: Phrases modifying effects may come after the effect’s text, but are applied at the same time as the effect. Such phrases will directly refer to the effect, increasing or reducing its restrictions or scope. Modifying phrases refer to the immediately previous effect text, unless they explicitly refer to another effect or to multiple effects. Modifying phrases that refer to multiple effects refer to all relevant effects in that trait or ability.
Example: In an effect that creates a sequence of duels, the duel consequence “Destroy each duel's loser” is applied immediately after each duel, following the duel sequence.

EXCEPTION 2: Phrases in an ability’s effects that refer to an ability itself, such as “This ability may be used once per battle,” or “This ability can not be copied,” apply to the ability at all times, even when the ability is not being used. See Abilities and Actions.

EXCEPTION 3: Battles created by effects, and additional phases, segments, and actions granted by effects, are delayed until the action or triggered trait that granted them has ended, and the chance to take Reactions to the end of the action or trait has passed. See Additional and Battles.
Example: Ambush reads, "Fight a battle there. After it ends, lose 5 Honor." The battle is delayed until the "Lose 5 Honor" effect has been activated, and the action has resolved. The Honor loss itself is a delayed effect timed to the end of the battle, and is only actually applied after the battle ends.

[ADDED Oct 17 2007; CLARIFIED June 3 2008, additional procedures now come after reactions to the end of the action]

[edit] Duration of effects

There are three types of effects: continuous effects, instantaneous effects, and ongoing effects.

Costs that alter the game state, such as bowing a card or giving it a stat penalty, follow the rules for duration of effects according to the type of effect they resemble.

Continuous effects are those found in non-triggered traits, as well as modifier effects that are not triggered (such as stat modifiers on Items or tokens).
Example: “Your Samurai have +1F.”

Continuous effects from cards upon other cards normally begin when both cards have entered play.

Additionally, if a continuous effect has a condition on it the effect begins at any point when the condition is met and the relevant cards are in play.
Example: "Your Samurai have +1F while they are opposed." In this example, the effect on each Samurai begins when that Samurai becomes opposed.

Continuous effects from cards upon other cards normally end when one (or both) of the two cards leaves play or when the effect's condition is no longer met. In the example, the effect on each Samurai ends when that Samurai is no longer opposed.

If another effect reverses or modifies the continuous effect, the continuous effect does not automatically re-assert itself. Only if the continuous effect ends and begins again, or when the other effect ends, would the continuous effect begin again.
Example: An effect on one of your Holdings in play states “Your Human Personalities are Samurai while they are opposed.” If another effect removes the Samurai keyword from one of these opposed Personalities, your card’s effect does not give him back Samurai immediately. However, if your Holding leaves play and re-enters play it would re-apply Samurai to all your opposed Human Personalities, including the one who had Samurai removed. Also, if your Samurai was no longer opposed, and then became opposed again, he would regain Samurai.

Instantaneous effects involve a change in the game state that is officially recorded by changing the position, orientation, or count of a physical game element.

Such effects include:

• Changes to any card’s physically marked state or game area, such as bowing or becoming dead or dishonored;

• Attaching, transferring, or removing cards or tokens to or from Personalities, Provinces, or other things in the game;

• Changes to Family Honor totals;

• Possession of the Imperial Favor.

Instantaneous effects have no duration. They occur once and are not automatically reversed at any later time.

Ongoing effects are those that are not continuous or instantaneous. These may be thought of as “virtual” effects because they are not officially recorded with a physical game element; for example, giving stat bonuses or penalties, granting keywords, or putting a condition on a card such as “can not assign.”

Ongoing effects last until the end of the turn in which they occur unless otherwise indicated. For instance, “permanent” or “until” a certain game time are phrases that override the default "end of turn" duration.

EXCEPTION: Changes to a card’s Focus Value during a duel end after the duel ends.

An ongoing effect that is applied “while” some condition is true ends when that condition is no longer true, and takes effect again if the condition becomes true within the stated duration of the effect.

EXCEPTION: The condition “while X remains Y” indicates that the effect will not reapply to X if Y becomes true again.

Ongoing effects do not end if the card they came from leaves play.

Ongoing effects that affect all things of a certain kind (such as, “Battle: Your Samurai have +1F”) by default change the game state, and so affect all things in play of that kind throughout their duration, even ones not in play at the time the effect took place. “Until the end of the game, your Samurai have +1F” therefore affects even Samurai brought into play on future turns; compare with “Your Samurai now in play have +1F until the end of the game” which affects only Samurai currently in play.

For more specific rules on the scope and duration of negation effects, see Negating effects below.

[edit] Tracking rule

“Memory” of the status of individual cards ends when the card enters a deck or a hand, or otherwise becomes both face-down and out of play (such as after a card in the deck or hand is shown). This includes dishonorable status, ongoing effects, and whether or not an ability has been used.

EXCEPTION: A card's role in a series of costs and effects from a single action or trait is not "forgotten" from one effect to the other -- for example, if you are asked to draw a card and then show it, you must show the same card.

When a card in a face-down area is shown, and something about it is then checked, the last face-up state of the card is what is actually checked, including all changes to the card once it became face-up.

“Memory” of effects that do not distinguish between individual copies of a card remains even when the card is both face-down and out of play.
Example: An effect on “All Samurai you own, in and out of play” works even on cards that are face-down in decks.

[edit] Delayed effects

Some effects state that they will occur at a given time in the future.
Example “After your next turn begins” or “After the next time this game a Samurai assigns to attack.”

Other effects may likewise delay another effect until a time in the future.

A delayed effect is activated at one time, but is actually applied at another.

Such delayed effects are still said to “resolve” when they are first activated, but are actually applied at a future time.
Example: in “Battle: After your next Attack Phase this game begins, target a unit and bow it” the Battle action resolves fully during that battle, but the targeting and bowing occurs in the player’s next Attack Phase.

After a delayed ongoing effect is activated, its duration takes into account the turn, or other time period, in which it was applied – not the time period in which it was initially activated.
Example: in "After the start of your next turn, give him +2F," the Force bonus lasts until the end of your next turn.

If any targeting only appears as part of a delayed effect, the targeting is not mandatory. See Abilities and actions, Required targeting.

A delayed effect that has been activated, but not yet applied, can still be negated by something that negates effects in general, such as "all effects from other players' cards." However, something that negates a specific type of effect, such as bowing, will only negate a delayed effect when it is actually applied. [ADDED February 5 2008]

See also: Timing.

[edit] Indefinite conditional effects

"Parent" effects that can create an indefinite number of "child" effects whenever a certain condition is met in the future are different from delayed effects, which create definite effect(s) at a given time in the future. [ADDED February 5 2008]
Example: In "After the next time this turn a Personality is destroyed, gain +1F" the +1F is a delayed effect; but, in "After each time this turn a Personality is destroyed, gain +1F" the +1F is not.

The timing of indefinite conditional effects comes at the same point as delayed effects with the same trigger. See Timing. [ADDED 23 May 2008]

[edit] Choices

Sometimes a choice has to be made in the game. This includes alternate effects (“gain +2F or +1C”), optional effects (“may bow him”), variable effects (“up to three cards”), and assignment.

If an action does not explicitly state which player makes a choice between several options, the choice belongs to the player taking the action. In traits, the choice belongs to the player whose card it is (that is, the controller of the card if it is in play, or its owner if it is not).

A choice involving multiple effects following a "may" must be taken in an all-or-none fashion, unless they are phrased as alternatives to each other using "or."
Example: "He may target one of his Shugenja and discard a card." If this choice is taken, the targeting and discard are both either carried out or not carried out; there is no option to target a Shugenja and not discard. Compare with "he may target one of his Shugenja and may discard a card," in which the two choices are separate; either, none, or both options may be taken. Also, in "he may target one of his Shugenja or discard a card," one choice or the other (but not both) may be taken.

A choice may be made even if its consequences would be negated or otherwise fail due to lack of suitable things to affect.
Example: If a Personality is already bowed, or can not bow due to an effect, you may still make a choice to bow him. If you do not control any unbowed Personalities, you may also make a choice to “bow an unbowed Personality,” which just fails.

A choice is made at the time it is called for in the sequence of effects.

References to the result of a choice are phrased differently according to whether the choice was only made, or whether a choice made had any effect.
Example: “You may choose to bow the personality. If you choose this, gain 2 Honor.” If the bowing is somehow prevented or the personality is already bowed, you still gain 2 Honor.
Example: “You may bow the personality. If he bowed, gain 2 Honor.” If the bowing never happens you do not gain the Honor.

If the legality of an action depends on its effects, choices within the action must be made in such a way as to make the action legal.
Example: If a Battle action on a unit gives the choice of moving to the current battlefield or some other location, and the Battle action is only legal to take if it moves the unit to the current battlefield (see Battles), its player must choose to move into the current battlefield when the time comes.

In the case of assignment and targeting, effects that refer to the player who assigns or targets refer to the player who made the choice.

[edit] Blind cards rule

When a rule or card text needs to know what an action does or will do, it only takes into account the current text of the action. It does not consider any continuous, ongoing or triggered effects that change or negate the action's own function.
Example 1: "Search your deck for an Action card with a challenge as one of its effects." Even if the condition "Challenges cannot be issued" is in effect, you may search your deck for such a card because of the blind cards rule.
Example 2: Exceptions to the Rule of Location follow the blind cards rule, so that for example, it is still legal to take a Battle action that says it can move a target unit to the current battlefield, even if that movement is blocked by an ongoing negation effect.

This rule should not be applied to retrospective knowledge of whether an action actually did something.

Also note that under Timing rules, negation from ongoing and continuous effects precedes the chance to take a Reaction "before" something happens, and negation from ongoing effects precedes both triggered traits and Reactions. So, if an effect says "Units can not move from this battlefield," you still cannot take a Reaction "before moving" to an effect that normally moves a unit from the battlefield.

The blind cards principle should not be over-applied beyond the specific case of needing to know what an action does; specifically, it should not interfere with the Good Faith rule of actions, which does take into account relevant knowledge about the game state.

[edit] Source of effects

When determining whether targeting, costs, effects or actions come “from” or are done "by" a card, look to the card where the thing in question is originally physically printed. If it is printed in the rulebook then the effect is not from any card.
Example: Your event card gives another player an ability. The action from that ability, and its effects, are “from” your cards even though they are “on” the other player.

EXCEPTION 1: Targeting and destruction by Ranged Attacks come from the card that created the Ranged Attack, not the rulebook.

EXCEPTION 2: A Personality’s destruction for having 0 Chi comes from the effect that last gave the Personality a Chi penalty, or from the rulebook if there was no such effect.

EXCEPTION 3: Effects of traits and abilities given to other cards, copied from other cards, or on created cards, come from the card they are currently on.

The possessive form (“his action,” “your actions”), when applied to a player’s actions, means “actions that player took” – not necessarily actions from the player’s cards.

Effects of tokens come from the effect that created them, or from the effect that last transferred them if they have been transferred, not from the tokens themselves.

[edit] Effects in and out of play

When an effect is activated, it will only apply to cards that at the time of activation are either in play, or in a temporary focusing, entering-play, or resolution area, unless: the effect specifies an out of play area, is triggered by a card entering an out of play area (such as, being destroyed or discarded from the hand), or uses wording such as “all Samurai in and out of play”. [CLARIFICATION Sept 25 2007]

Ongoing effects that affect a card in play persist when the card leaves play, unless something else intervenes (for example, the Tracking rule - see above). Effects that were activated regarding a card in play, and then delayed, also apply to the card at the delayed point in time, even if it is no longer in play. [CLARIFICATION Sept 25 2007]

Specifically, use of the term “own” (as in “all Samurai you own”) does not imply that an effect applies to cards out of play. Use of the term "your" also does not imply that an effect applies to cards out of play, even though "your" can refer to cards out of play in certain contexts.

EXCEPTION: While their card is out of play, continuous traits (and only continuous traits) affect the card they are on, and only that card.
Examples: A trait that says "This card is a Samurai while your Family Honor is 10 or higher" affects the card even while out of play. A trait on a Samurai card that says "All your Samurai are Tacticians" gives Tactician to the Samurai card itself, but not any other cards, while out of play.

[edit] Negating effects

Some effects negate other effects, either by outright saying the effect is negated, or by global wording such as “can not.” The rules on negation also apply to costs and targeting that is negated.

Effects are negated individually; negating one effect of an action does not automatically negate the others, for instance.

If the effects of a triggered trait are negated, the trait is still considered to have been activated for purpose of its maximum number of uses.

If “all effects” of an action or trait are negated partway through the action or trait’s resolution, instantaneous effects that have already resolved are not undone, but ongoing effects that have already resolved are negated.

Negating an effect does not suspend its duration. If the negation effect ends before the original effect would have, the original effect still expires at its normal time.

If the wording “do not” is used (such as, “You do not gain Honor”), or if an effect refers to a nonexistent entity (such as an army’s Force in a battle where you have no units, or a Region you control when you control no Regions) the effect is not negated, but simply never occurs. Effects described with “do not” override other effects that say they can not be negated.

Similarly, effects that try to put a card in a state it is in already never occur. This is not negation. [Added 26 September 2007]
Example: An effect that bows a card will fail if the card is already bowed. An effect that dishonors a Personality will fail if the card is already dishonorable.

Some effects restrict the number of occurrences of a type of effect in a time period.
Example: “You can only issue one challenge per turn.”

If such a restricting effect takes place in the middle of the time period covered, previous occurrences of the restricted effect do count against the limit.
Example: If “You can only issue one challenge per turn” resolves, any challenges you issued that turn count against the limit (even if you issued more than one) and you cannot issue any more that turn.

If a card’s entering play is negated, costs do not have to be paid.

Changes to a numerical value such as a stat can be partially negated, but only when a very specific type of limit has been placed on that value. Reduction of a stat, or of a stat change, is otherwise not normally considered to be partial negation. See Raise/rise. [ADDED March 16 2008]

[edit] Duration of negation effects

The duration and scope of an effect that negates other things depends on both the type of the negating effect and the type of the negated effect (see Duration of effects, above).

Continuous negation effects (such as the non-triggered trait “This card can not gain Force bonuses” on a card in play) negate all relevant instantaneous, ongoing and continuous effects while the negation effect applies. If such an effect ceases to apply, ongoing effects do not reassert themselves, but continuous effects do.

Non-continuous negation effects (such as those given by actions and triggered traits) vary in scope and duration, depending on how they are written:

• If a non-continuous negation effect is written to negate a specific instantaneous effect (such as, “Before this card is destroyed: Negate the destruction.”) the effect is itself instantaneous; in this example “Negate the destruction” refers to the specific instance of destruction that the trigger refers to and does not carry over to other instances of destruction.

• If a non-continuous negation effect uses “can not” wording, (such as, “Battle: A target Personality cannot be bowed,”) this is an ongoing effect that follows the normal rules of duration, prevents instantaneous effects from happening, prevents new ongoing effects from taking place, and negates ongoing or continuous effects.

EXCEPTION: A non-continuous "can not" negation sometimes appears with a wording implying that only new effects are being negated -- for example, "Can not gain Force bonuses," where "gain" is the critical word. In such cases, follow the rules above for non-continuous "can not" negation effects, except that ongoing and continuous effects are not negated.

[CHANGED April 15 2008]

• If a non-continuous negation effect specifies a period of time (such as, “Battle: Until the turn ends, negate all Force penalties on your Samurai”), it has the duration of that period of time, prevents instantaneous effects from happening, prevents new ongoing effects from taking place, also ends existing ongoing effects (which do not reappear when the period of time ends), and suppresses continuous effects until the duration ends.

• Otherwise, (such as a Battle action just saying “Negate all Force penalties on your Samurai”) a non-continuous negation effect should be interpreted as an instantaneous negation that only ends existing ongoing effects, with no effect on continuous effects or new ongoing effects.

EXCEPTION: In rare cases, an action can produce a continuous effect (such as a stat bonus from a token created by an action; see the rule on the source of token effects). If a non-continuous negating effect specifically says it negates effects from actions, it will negate a continuous effect from an action, even though the above rules would otherwise say that continuous effects are not negated. This negation lasts for the stated duration of the negating effect, or until the end of the turn if none is stated. This exception has been made to preserve the most logical reading of the cards in light of the printed rules. [ADDED March 16 2008]

EXCEPTION: Special rules apply to negation of Personality destruction for having zero Chi, which is a continuously applied instantaneous effect. See Chi. [ADDED May 30 2008]

[edit] Substituting effects

If something substitutes one effect for another, the above rules on duration of negation should be followed to determine the scope and duration of the substitution - keeping in mind that substitution is not itself negation. See also Instead. [ADDED May 30 2008]

[edit] Conflicting effects

When effects conflict in their application but not their timing, the later effect takes precedence over the previous effect.
Example: If an effect can not be negated (negating anything that attempts to negate it), and is countered by a later negation effect that itself can not be negated, the later effect succeeds in negating the previous effect. [ADDED July 30 2007]

An action may fully or partially negate its own effects (for example, "He loses 3 Chi. This cannot reduce his Chi below 1", an example of partial negation). If such an action is globally affected so that all of its effects cannot be negated, the conflict is resolved in favor of the effect that originally negated the other effect as written in the action. In the example, this means that the Chi penalty is still subject to partial negation. [ADDED February 15 2008]

---

Back to the Comprehensive Rules