Defensive Duty

Legend of the Five Rings card from A Perfect Cut

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: If you are the Defender and even if you control no units at the current battlefield: Search your Dynasty deck for a Personality and put it face-up in the current battlefield's province, discarding any cards already there. Give the province a strength bonus equal to the Personality's Force. Discard the Personality after the battle ends.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Four Winds (Gold)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• The Personality is discarded at the end of the battle regardless of where he or she is (e.g., in play). [Card text; JA, email, 4 December 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 13

Rules Q&A

• Q: 2) Defensive Duty comes is used to place a personality into a province that has plain of fast trouble attached, does the personality still die at the end of the battle
  A: He is still "discarded", not destroyed. He will leave play and go to your discard pile, but he will not count as Honorable or Dishonorable Dead, and cards like Kisada's Shrine cannot prevent it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 March 2003", 28 Mar 2003
• Q: Can, at a battle, the defender play Defensive Duty at a Province that has a Region that cannot hold Dynasty cards such as Togashiís Shrine?
  A: Yes. The Personality is not put into the Province, but all other effects that can happen still happen. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 February 2003", 28 Feb 2003
• Q: If and when Defensive Duty is played is Togashiís Shrine discarded? Are cards attached to the Province, such as Fortification, discarded as well?
  A: No and no. Defensive Duty discards all cards "in" the Province. Cards attached TO a Province are not "in" it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 February 2003", 28 Feb 2003
• Q: Also, as a follow up, do "Entering Play" effects happen, such as Losing Honor, or Discard abilities, or even Gaining honor from a personality of your own clan?
  A: Defensive Duty does not bring the Personality into play, so no entering-play effects happen. [card text]
  Plain of Fast Troubles DOES bring the card into play, so effects do happen. [card text] However, all costs are waived, so you need to read cards closely to check whether their entering-play effects are truly effects or whether they're costs. You do not gain honor for bringing aligned Personalities into play because that only occurs when you pay full price during the Dynasty Phase. Jeff Alexander, "post for 9 December 2002", 10 Dec 2002
• Q: Assuming you have a Plain of Fast Troubles on the table, connected to a province...
  You play Defensive Duty. Face up in the province.
  Next action, bring the Personality into play.
  Will the personality be Discarded at the end of the turn?
  A: Yes. [card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 December 2002", 5 Dec 2002
• Q: During a battle,
  Defender has plain of fast troubles at his province.
  Plain of Fast Troubles Battle: If a face-up Personality is in this Province, bring the Personality into play, waiving all costs and ignoring Honor requirements, as a defending unit in this battle. (You can do this even if there are no attacking units.)
  He has a face down card currently at that province.
  Defender then plays defensive duty
  Defensive Duty This card may only be played by the Defender. You may play this card in a battle in which you have no units. Battle: Search your Dynasty deck for a Personality card and put it face-up in the Province disacarding any cards already in that Province. Raise the Province's Strength by the Personality's Force. Discard the Personality when the battle ends.
  Now the defender can bring in the personality for free per the Plains. Will the personality be discarded now that it has entered play?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 November 2002", 6 Nov 2002
• Q: Defensive Duty "Battle: Search your Dynasty Deck for a Personality card and put it face-up in the Province, discarding any cards already in that Province. Raise the Province's Strength by the Personality's Force. Discard the Personality when the battle ends."
  Q1: Are Fortifications and Regions attached to the Province also discarded when Defensive Duty is played?
  A: No. Cards attached to a Province are not "in" it. [p. 22] Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 July 2002", 30 Jul 2002
• Q: Hello all .. I checked the accumulated rulings .. and did not find either of these cards listed.
  Action Title Defensive Duty
  Rarity/Edition C2 A Perfect Cut
  And
  Plain of Fast Troubles
  My question is if you use defensive duty to go get a peep. plop them into the plain of fast troubles .. then bring them into play are they still discarded at the end of the battle ?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 July 2002", 24 Jul 2002
• Q: Once again, I have people with english problems and Defensive Duty. I told them that the personality you get, does not satisfy presence and they insist that if you have to discard what else is attached to the province, presence is established.
  Rather than a curt, short Mr. Obvious answer, would you please state that Defensive Duty personality does not create presence.
  A: *ahem*...
  "Cards in Provinces are not in play. The face-up Personality card retrieved with Defensive Duty is not in play and is not a controlled unit. It will not give a player Presence."
  How's that? Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 July 2002", 23 Jul 2002
• Q: Does the personality you get from your deck and put into your province fulfill the Rule of Presence?
  A: No, because the Personality does not enter the battle. However, the card also states that it is an exception to the Rule of Presence, so the question is rather moot. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 June 2002", 18 Jun 2002
• Q: if i play this card and go through my deck and put a persoanilty face up on a province that had plain of fast troubles, and then bring him into play using the region, i still have to discard the personaility even though hes not in the province anymore. Correct?
  A: Correct. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 6 September", 11 Sep 2001
• Q: 2. How would subsequent effects be affected if a searched card is discarded from play. For example, would Defensive Duty still increase my province strength even if the personality searched is discarded by Otomo Sensei?
  A: You could still get the Province Strength boost. Use the last known value of the card before it was removed from the game. You will not, however, ever put it in your Province or need to discard a card in that Province. You obviously will not need to discard the Personality either. Martin Lund, "Otomo Sensei, Kuro Sensei", 11 Feb 2008
• Q: [OBH] Defensive Duty + Hida - as a crab player i play the combo to put Hida to the defensive army - After battle will Hida be discarded?
  A: Yes. Though Defensive Duty likely assumes the Personality will be in the Province for the discard effect, it does not specify this, so the Personality will be discarded from wherever it is after the battle ends (unless RFG'd).
  (Replying to a player: "Follow up - if the defensive army wins at resolution he becomes discarded. but if the defensive army loses - he becomes honorable dead. right?") Yes. In scenario 2, he's already in the discard as honorable dead, so "discarding" him will just fail; it won't "undo" his dead status. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 17 Jun 2026