Heart of a Hero

Legend of the Five Rings card from Hidden City

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Bow and destroy your performing Unique Personality with your Clan alignment: Give all Force bonuses from actions you take between now and the end of the battle an additional +3F for their same duration.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have played Heart of a Hero. Now I pay 2 Gold to create a Weapon Item token from D'nir'ch's Battle action.
  How is the Weapon Item token? A) +1F/+1C B) +4F/+1C
  I see in DE Rulebook, Overview of Cards Type: Items, pag.47 that Items has: A. Force bonus; B. Name; C. Chi bonus; D. Gold cost; E. Traits, abilities, and flavor text; F. Focus value
  The Item is created by an action. The Item has a stat named "Force Bonus" But I don't know if the +3F is granted to this stat or not.
  If finally the answer is "A) +1F/+1C" please explain it.
  A: The Item itself is +1F/+1C.
  The bonus it actually gives to the Personality it is attached to, for as long as it remains attached, is +4.
  Having a +1F weapon normally confers a +1F bonus to the wielder. Other effects can change this bonus to the Personality without actually altering the Item itself. Heart of a Hero is one of those kinds of effects.
  So, when you take an Action to create that Item, a Personality gains the Item, and instead of getting the "normal" +1F from a +1F Item, he gains a +4F bonus. If that bonus ever ends due to the Item no longer being attached, future bonuses conferred by attaching the item are distinct from that old one. They won't have that +3F increase from Heart of a Hero the original bonus received. Martin Lund, "Rules for 19 January 2005", 24 Jan 2005
• Q: I don't know if anyone's answered this question yet; I haven't seen it anywhere. With Heart of a Hero, is the individual force bonus increased permanently on the card, based upon the wording? Or is it a one shot only deal for printed actions that grant them?
  A: Heart of a Hero only affects Bonuses - which are Effects, not Actions. It won't change the ability on Razor's Edge Dojo, for instance. It will only change the Bonus Effect created by that ability when you use it during a Battle after Heart of a Hero is played.
  So any given Bonus becomes increased for the life of the bonus, but the ability itself is not changed. If you used RED last turn with Heart of a Hero for +4 Force per crab, and this turn you use RED again with no Heart of a Hero before the play it would give your Crabs +1F, not +4F - because this is a new bonus effect. Martin Lund, "Rules for 29 July 2004", 4 Aug 2004
• Q: The question become : Is Sume's ability (at home) covered by the Heart of a Hero bonus ?
  A: No. Heart of a Hero says, "raise by 3 all new Force bonuses created by actions you take between now and the end of the battle."
  Sume's Reaction is taken AFTER the end of the battle, thus it would never fall in the range of "between now and the end of the battle." Martin Lund, "Rules for 25 June 2004", 28 Jun 2004
• Q: If I sacrifice a unique personality for "Heart of a hero", and react with "Be prepared to dig 2 graves", do my personalities gain +5/+2?
  A: You'll get hosed on the timing. Remember the Action Timeline:
  1 - Announce Action 2 - Select Targets 3 - Pay Costs 4 - Resolve Effects
  You get to Step 3 (Pay Costs) to play Heart of a Hero, and then you have to drop Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves in response to your Unique Personality dying. So you play through Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves and presumably pick an opposing Personality to give all your Personalities +2/+2. Then you go back to finishing Heart of a Hero (assuming no more Reactions). Then Heart of a Hero moves to Step 4 and creates its effect. Since you've already got the +2/+2 from Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves, Heart of a Hero won't increase it.
  You need to get Heart of a Hero to resolve - before - you gain the bonus, so it does not combo smoothly with Be Prepared as a one-two play. You'd need to kill a second Personality with a different effect and THEN drop Be Prepared to get +5/+2 rather than +2/+2. Martin Lund, "Rules for 24 June 2004", 28 Jun 2004
• Q: If I play Heart of a Hero in a battle, win this battle and use Ikoma Sume's reaction, will my personalities gain +4F/+1C permanently
  A: No. Sume's Reaction is played after the battle has ended, as per page 85 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook. Heart of a Hero only refers to "actions you take between now and the end of the battle" - which will not include Sume's Reaction. Martin Lund, "Rules for 22 June 2004", 25 Jun 2004
• Q: So lets say I destroy a personality. Then i use Ratling conjurer to give all of my cards +1F that would up it to 4F, but since it's permanent does that mean that every time i use the conjurer's ability on a different turn does it give it 4F instead of 1 force for all future uses.
  A: No. It doesn't affect Ratling Conjurer's ability at all.
  It increases the effect it generated - a force boost. Each use of Ratling Conjurer's ability creates a distinct and unique effect.
  The "permanent" on Heart of a Hero means that so long as the bonus stays around, it will always be 3 higher. Most bonuses end at the end of the turn, but some last indefinitely. No matter how long or short they last, they will be at +3 for their duration.
  Think of it as a "lifetime supply" - not all that important if you're not long for this world, but far more impressive if you have a lot of years ahead of you. Martin Lund, "Rules for 27 May 2004", 31 May 2004
• Q: I asked this one a couple days ago and saw no response, so I'm going to ask it again. Does the Force bonus of Shining Example meet the requirements for the boost from Heart of a Hero?
  A: Yes Martin Lund, "Rules for 25 May 2004", 28 May 2004
• Q: Can I use his battle action to give people 0 force bonusses when I have no followers in my discard pile? If you need a reason why: Ring of Water, not passing, Heart of a Hero.
  A: [MARTY] On the one hand, you have the definition of a targeted action, which would definitely mean that Ikm targets the Follower in the discard pile.
  On the other hand, you have page 73 in the Diamond Edition Rulebook that says you may not target cards that are not in play.
  However, looking at Feign Death and Kisada's Shrine and how Zen and Jeff have ruled in relation to them and Wedge, I think it is safe to say that Page 73 only forbids targeting cards that are not in play up until the point at which the card specifically tells you to choose cards that are not in play.
  At that point, the First Cardinal Rule wins.
  Based on this the rule on Page 73 is actually there to prevent you from targeting things which are not "in play" unless the Action or Effect in question explicitly contradicts that rule. For example, you can't play "Careful Planning" on a Personality in your Discard Pile.
  This does not override the general definition of Targeted Actions on page 72. If an effect that would be targeted forces you to choose something in that is not in play, you can target something that is not in play. The card breaks the rule.
  Sometimes you must choose between more than one Ratling Follower in your discard pile for the one to remove from the game. Because of this, the Action targets not only your Ratling Personality receiving a bonus, but also the Follower you will remove from the game.
  If you don't have a Follower in your Discard Pile to target, then it is illegal to play Imk'atch-tek's Action because you lack one of its targets. Martin Lund, "Rules for 10 May 2004", 13 May 2004
• Q: Here my Questions:
  1. If Kaiu Hisayuki has a Senpet Scimitar does this make the force bonuses from action increased by 2?
  2. How about Kaiu Hisayuki on the effect of Heart of a Hero?
  3. And what if i played 2 Heart of a Hero?
  just want to ask if they are cumulative.
  A: They are separate opperations.
  If something tells you to add one, and something else tells you to add one, you've added a total of two.
  If you have an Action that would be increased by both Hisayuki and something else, both increases happen. Two Heart of a Hero would work too. Each gives +3. That's a total of +6 in the end. Martin Lund, "Cumulative?", 10 Mar 2005