Guidance in War

Legend of the Five Rings card from A Line in the Sand

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

This Spell's Invest effects last while it remains attached to the Shugenja.
Invest : This Shugenja has Cavalry.
Invest : This Shugenja has Conqueror.
Invest : This Shugenja has +2F.
Invest : This Shugenja has the ability, "Battle: Ranged 3 Attack."

Focus Value

4

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: In Line with the Hira Sensei discussion: Does Hibana exp grant a Bonus to the ranged attack she receives from guidance in war?
  Relevant Hibana text: Ranged Attacks from Hibana's Spells have +1 strength. Relevant Guidance in war text: Invest 4: This Shugenja has the ability, "Battle: Ranged 3 Attack."
  It boils down to the interpretation of this sentence from the 'from' section of the CR: Effects of traits and abilities given to other cards, copied from other cards, or on created cards, come from the card they are on.
  Does that mean cards that the action is on due to the copy/given, or does the 'card they are on' refer to the card they are printed on.
  A: The Ranged Attack ability granted by Guidance in War is "on" the Shugenja, not the Spell; the Ranged Attack is "from" the Shugenja, not the Spell, so Hibana exp's trait will not give it a bonus. Alex Jones, "Hibana exp and Guidance in War", 27 Aug 2015
• Q: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic. ... r#p1444575
  I understand this ruling on VtD played on Personality with attached Spell with "This Shugenja..." trait, but i'm still confused with GiW text "This Spell's Invest effects last while it remains attached to the Shugenja".
  So if someone play VtD (and name Shugenja) on my Personality with GiW attached with maximum Invest paid:
  a) all Invest effects "This Shugenja..." are turned off this round and come back next turn b) all Invest effects "This Shugenja..." are unaffected and Personality is still Cavalry, Conqeror, has +2F and has Battle ability.
  A: As noted in the ruling post, "the Shugenja (Samurai, etc.)" had always been a mere term of reference, and not intended to fail if the card lost that keyword. The question was about "This" and the way it was resolved was, to bring it back into line with the use of "the," again, making it only a point of reference and not requiring the keyword to be sustained.
  So to answer your multiple choice, the answer is b; the effects stay on after losing Shugenja. Thanks for asking! Roger Giner-Sorolla, "Guidance in War and Victory Through Deference (again)", 15 Feb 2015
• Q: For the purposes of taking Discovering the Daisho of Water, do abilities granted by invests count as printed abilities? For example, can I use the Fear 5 from an invested Isawa Orinoko? Could I also, perhaps, use the Range 3 granted by Guidance in War?
  Discovering the Daisho of Water: "Battle: Straighten your target Personality. If he has 3 or more Personal Honor, or is Lion Clan, you may take an additional action to use an ability printed on the Personality."
  Isawa Orinoko: "Invest : Give Orinoko three +1F/+1C tokens, then permanently give her Conqueror and the ability, "Fire Battle: Fear 5." This Invest cost cannot be reduced."
  Guidance in War: "This Spell's Invest effects last while it remains attached to the Shugenja. Invest : This Shugenja has Cavalry. Invest : This Shugenja has Conqueror. Invest : This Shugenja has +2F. Invest : This Shugenja has the ability, "Battle: Ranged 3 Attack.""
  A: If they are actually printed on the Personality, yes. Orinoko's invested Fear 5 is a Printed ability. The Ranged 3 granted by Guidance in War, however, is printed on Guidance in War, not the Personality to whom it is attached. Jon Palmer, "Discovering the Daisho of Water and Printed Abilities", 5 Jan 2015
• Q: Guidance in War says "while this spell is attached." It has already been ruled that using an Unsettling Gathering to move the spell will end the bonuses. What if the spell gets moved back to its original target?
  Basically, is "while" a fixed duration (from when it is attached to when it ceases to be attaches), or a condition that is continually checked?
  Thanks
  A: "While" by itself is not the fixed duration, however "while it remains attached" is a fixed duration. Once the Spell becomes unattached to the Shugenja it was most recently brought into play attached to, the bonuses end and will not reapply. (see CR entry for Remain, pg 59.) Ben Higgins, "Guidance in War", 2 Dec 2014
• Q: It's two weeks until Winter Court Dark Oracle tournament in Germany. Could we please have a final say on: viewtopic.php?p=1442828#p1442828 ?
  A: Answered here. Roger Giner-Sorolla, "Guidance in War reminder...", 26 Oct 2014
• Q: I apologize for the frustration that this issue has caused. It's not something I can directly fix myself, but know that I am working to resolve the issue quickly with the right people.
  I have messages out to the Rules / Design Team and I have made the Brand Manager aware of the issue. As soon as I have a response, I'll post it.
  A: Because the original ruling (from Daidoji Ryushi) was reversed without discussion with the rest of the Rules Team and too close to a major event, I am reinstating the original ruling; so, the "this Shugenja" references from the Invest effects will not make the effects fail if the Personality loses Shugenja. This applies only to this particular ruling.
  With further discussion this may change after Worlds (or the CR may change to be more generous to Shugenja who lose their keyword.)
  My apologies for the confusion. - Roger Roger Giner-Sorolla, "Guidance in War", 9 Oct 2014
• Q: Hi, just stumbled upon a minor question: if I remove shugenja from personality with attached Guidance that has 4g invest (This shugenja has the ability "Battle: Ranged 3 attack") does the battle action remains as it is granted on personality or does it perish with all bonuses granted by spells to personality that is no longer able to cast it?
  Victory Through Deference Battle/Open: Remove one to three non-Ring cards in discard piles from the game. You may target a Personality and remove one of his abilities or boldface keywords (this turn). Take an additional action.
  Guidance in War This Spell's Invest effects last while it remains attached to the Shugenja. Invest : This Shugenja has Cavalry. Invest : This Shugenja has Conqueror. Invest : This Shugenja has +2F. Invest : This Shugenja has the ability, "Battle: Ranged 3 Attack."
  A: All the ongoing effects of Guidance in War's Invest traits are permanently ended if the Personality loses Shugenja.
  See the Comprehensive Rules, Special Wording Rules, References (p45-46): On an attachment, "this Personality" refers to the Personality in the attachment's unit. "This" before a keyword (for example, "this Shugenja") refers to the Personality in the attachment's unit if he has that keyword. If he does not, then the reference fails. Alex Jones, "Guidance in War", 8 Oct 2014
• Q: [20F-TBS] What happens if I transfer the full invested (10 Gold) Guidance in War to another shugenja using The Miya Records? Does the new shugenja gets all the benefits or the spell transfers uninvested? [20F-TBS] If I want to pay Guidance in War's full invest to attach it to Isawa Hibana, do I have to pay 10 gold or only 8?
  A: The "while it remains" duration ends when it is no longer attached to the first Shugenja, and you have a 10G blank Spell.
  EDIT: 10. It's not a Fire Spell.
  (Replying to a player: "Thanks!!") See EDIT. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 9 Mar 2026