Fortress of the Dragonfly

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Honor Bound

Card Type

Holding

Gold Cost

3

Card Text

Your Human and Naga Personalities have +1C.

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Only affects Personalities in play. [JA, 16 June 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 81

Rules Q&A

• Q: I checked through the rulebook and the accumulated rulings, but couldn't find an answer to this. I can't find anything in the rulebook saying a holding cannot produce effects when bowed, such as Fortress of the Dragonfly or Ki-Rins Shrine exp. Could Private Dojo's reaction be used while it is bowed?
  A: Gold Edition rulebook, page 24:
  ] Once a card or Stronghold bows, it cannot take another action until ] it straightens, not even an action that does not bow the card. ] Bowing does not turn off continuous effects of a card, such as ] traits, Force and Chi bonuses, or effects that are not actions (see ] page 47 for the definition of "action").
  The Shrine and the Fortress give their bonuses when bowed, but the Dojo's Reaction cannot be used. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 February 2003", 6 Feb 2003
• Q: In a message dated 11/27/02 11:53:41 AM Pacific Standard Time, writes:
  In Time of War has resolved and in one of the following turns player A gets a Boastfull Proclamation. Player B cannot destroy the province, so next turn Player A gains three Honor. Can player A choose to gain the honor before In Time of War checks his Family Honor, thus gaining eight that turn?
  He can't choose to -- it happens that way regardless. It's analogous to the Geisha Assassin/Fortress of the Dragonfly combo.
  Does this mean that if " In time of war " has resolved, that it is still possible to gain more than 5 honor per turn? Do events resolve before " In time of War " checks honor every turn? Where is this in the rulebook?
  A: It's not in the rulebook. An Event isn't resolving before a turn starts.
  Boastful Proclaimation causes an honor gain at the start of that player's NEXT turn. In Time of War check each player's Family Honor at the start of every turn. The original question was: which happens first?
  We already have a ruling that when a card enters play, it receives all continual bonuses to cards in play before anything checks its stats. For example, if I have a Fortress of the Dragonfly in play already, and I buy Toku, there is no moment in time when Toku is in play but not 2 Chi yet. He's either still in my Province at 1 Chi or he's in play at 2.
  Likewise, if something gives you 3 Honor at the start of your turn, it would only be consistant to rule that there is no moment of time, not even a tiny one, where your turn has begun but you haven't gotten that 3 Honor yet. Thus that gain will always sneak in before In Time of War makes its check of your Family Honor, adds 5, and sets its cap. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 November 2002", 28 Nov 2002
• Q: Same question except now I have a Fortress of the Dragonfly in play?
  A: Whatever she would have otherwise, plus one. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 November 2002", 26 Nov 2002
• Q: So this means you can't use Energy Transferencecan on a 0 force peep without killing them , even with a Fortress of the Dragonfly in play?
  A: Correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 May 2002", 2 May 2002
• Q: Energy Transference Open: Bow this Shugenja to switch a Personality's Force and Chi. If the Personality is not yours, destroy this Spell.
  Fortress of the Dragonfly Each of your Human and Naga Personalities gains +1C while the Fortress of the Dragonfly is in play.
  Okay you have a 2 force 4 chi(including fortress bonus, one in play) personality. You switch the force and chi. The force becomes 4. But what about the chi? Would the chi be at 2? Or 3 because of the fortresses?
  A: It becomes 2 because you're setting it to what his Force was. [rulebook p. 32] Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 April 2002", 30 Apr 2002
• Q: Just a quick question; this issue arose yesterday when we were honing our decks for the upcoming local SotLion tourney.
  When Holdings are bought from Provinces, they come into play bowed. Does this mean that the effects of certain Holding (like the Chi boost of the Fortress of the Dragonfly, and the Force/Chi/Honour boost of the Ki-Rin Shrine Exp) do not take effect until the Holding becomes unbowed at the start of the player's next turn?
  A: "Bowing does not turn off continuous effects of a card, such as traits, Force and Chi bonuses, or effects that are not actions." [DA rulebook p. 24] Jeff Alexander, "post for 26 April 2002", 27 Apr 2002
• Q: Does Geisha Assassin temporarily create a personality that you control? If so, it's presumably Human (since no trait makes it Nonhuman). Would it then gain the benefit of any Fortress of the Dragonfly or Ki-Rin's Shrine (exp.) you have in play?
  A: Yes, yes, yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 March 2002", 2 Mar 2002
• Q: If I have a 2/4 personality (Yasuki Hachi for instance), and 2 Fortress of The Dragonfly in play, Yasuki is 2/6, ok... but what happens if I use Energy Transference on him ? Does he become 6/2, or 4/4 ?
  A: He was a 2/6, so he'll become a 6/2. [AOF rulebook pp. 32, 42] Jeff Alexander, "post for 6 February 2002", 7 Feb 2002
• Q: Second question involves Poisoned Weapon and Fortress of the Dragonfly. If a personality with 2 Chi is hit with a poisoned weapon and has 2 Fortress of the Dragonflies in play, do they die immediately or does the FotD save them?
  A: If he's 2C WITH the Fortresses, then yes, he'll die. If he's 2C without the Fortresses, then he's 4C with them, and the Poisoned Weapon only takes him to 1C, so he lives. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 January 2002", 29 Jan 2002
• Q: I was wondering on the timing between Fortress of the Dragonfly and Energy Transference.
  Let's say I wack my opponents 0F/4C shuenja with Energy Transference. He currently has two Fortress of the Dragonfly in play.
  Which of the following happens:
  A: <snip> Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 25th", 25 Jul 2001
• Q: Does Kikata's "The Sword" and Fortress of the Dragonfly affect play when they're bowed?
  A: Absolutely. Traits are always "on." Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 28 June 2001", 29 Jun 2001
• Q: The timing is extremely relevant. In the earlier ruling, Jeff stated that bonuses to Chi were applied after penalties to the printed Chi. So, just as [Fortress of the Dragonfly] will not save you from [Force of Will], neither will the temporary bonus of focusing in a duel. In both instances, your Chi is reduced to zero, then you try to add a bonus to an already dead personality.
  A: I did not say that. I said that when a stat is changed directly to some new value, it stays at that value because that is now its new current value. It does not become the new "base" value and gain continuous bonuses again. This has been the ruling since Imperial Edition.
  It is NOT true that all penalties are applied before all bonuses are. It is NOT true that a Personality dies from having 0 Chi if his Chi is 0 at some arbitrary time before all the math is done. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 14 June", 20 Jun 2001