Amnesia

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

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

2

Keywords

Ritual

Card Text

Limited: Bow this Shugenja, one or more of your other target performing Shugenja, and destroy this Spell to target another player's Stronghold or Sensei. Until your turn begins a number of turns from now equal to the number of this Spell's performers, the target's actions may not be used, and its traits have no effect, except those traits involving victory or elimination conditions or changes to that player's Family Honor.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Hidden Emperor (Jade), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Amnesia 2G 2FV Ritual Limited: Bow this Shugenja and at least one of your other Shugenja, and destroy this Spell, to target another player's Stronghold or Sensei. Until your Events Phase a number of turns from now equal to the number of Shugenja in this Ritual, the target Stronghold's or Sensei's actions cannot be used, and its traits have no effect, except those traits involving victory or elimination conditions or changes to that player's Family Honor." [MRP, Diamond Edition, 27 October 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 61
• Q: Akodo Quehao is a Sensei. Can I start the game with him in play? Can he be targeted with things like Amnesia? A: No and no. "Reserved game terms ... do not count as traits; they only apply if their definitions are met" (The Spirit Wars rulebook, p. 31). General card classes, like "Follower," "Holding," and "Sensei," are reserved game terms. Anything that refers to Sensei is talking about that class, not cards with the Sensei trait. The Imperial Herald, Issue 17, p. 40

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have a question about what happens when you cast amnesia on a SLH stronghold, say T9K? Specifically, if the exceptions on the spell Amnesia apply to the the trait on T9K "You cannot gain or lose Honor." I originally read the exception to mean that any text on the stronghold that governs changes to family honor are not "forgotten" under the effects of amnesia, But someone in my local playgroup tried using amnesia on a SLH stronghold, then make them loose 1 honor... He argued that text that alters family honor doesn't go away under the effects of amnesia, but the SLH player is screwed because the text isn't changing family honor, and thus it has no effect until the spell wears off.
  A: Amnesia says, "except those traits involving victory or elimination conditions or changes to that player's Family Honor."
  Amnesia can't make a Shadowlands stronghold "forget" its inability to gain or lose Honor. It is a trait involving "changes to that player's Family Honor." Martin Lund, "Rules for 24 September 2004", 27 Sep 2004
• Q: And one last question on Tch'tch Warrens: Would Open Warfare and Amnesia have any effect on cards that have already been taken from another player's discard pile? I would think not, as the action had already been used and is simply having an ongoing effect.
  Thanks, ~Brian
  A: Eliminating the source of an Action or Ability won't stop the effects it has already produced, so you are correct again. Martin Lund, "Rules for 1 April 2004 (no jokes)", 3 Apr 2004
• Q: If Norikazu Sensei was under Amnesia, and Unavoidable resolved, the Amnesia ended, would the turns left from Unavoidable still resolve, despite Nork?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 June 2002", 8 Jun 2002
• Q: May I ...
  - achieve an Honor victory after using my Kaede Sensei but playing Amnesia to "forget" that I can't win by honor?
  A: Amnesia can only target another player's Sensei, so, no, you cannot. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 22-23 September 2001", 24 Sep 2001
• Q: Can you Amnesia or Forgotten Lesson a Sensei no longer attached to a Stronghold?
  A: No. These cards, like most cards, can only target something in play. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 19 February 2001", 24 Feb 2001
• Q: I just wanted to know if you can Amnesia your own Kaede Sensei in order to win an honor victory.
  A: Amnesia can only target another player's Sensei, by card text. (Also, while Forgotten Lesson can target your own, it can't be played until the Action Phase and only lasts until the end of the turn, so will never be in effect when the check for an Honor Victory is made. You can't use either to get around your own Kaede Sense.) Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 20-21 February 2001", 24 Feb 2001
• Q: Also will playing Amnesia on a already used Hantei Sensei let you use the cards that the other player named.
  A: Yes. It will also let that player use cards that you named. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 20-21 February 2001", 24 Feb 2001
• Q: KB gets two Winds because of its trait. If that trait ceases to be effective (OPen Warfare, Amnesia), the implication, based on p.58, is that KB can only have one Wind.
  A: Diamond rules, pg. 55: conditions for putting a card into play only matter when playing it. This situation exactly parallels Amnesia or Open Warfare and Khol Wall; second regions aren't discarded if a Khol Wall player's box is "erased." Zen Faulkes, "Kyuden Bayushi and Open Warfare/Amnesia", 30 Mar 2005
• Q: Can the reaction on Toturi Kurako ever be used(?)
  A: Yes (First Cardinal Rule). Zen Faulkes, "Toturi Kurako and a question about Amnesia", 17 Mar 2005
• Q: If I target a Khol Wall stronghold with Amnesia, what happens to those provinces that have two regions attached?
  A: Nothing. See here. (Edit: Correction.) Zen Faulkes, "Toturi Kurako and a question about Amnesia", 17 Mar 2005
• Q: Assuming OBH rules I'm reading Norikazu as: events do not resolve and as such stay in the province waiting to be resolved or discarded ('Amnesia' cast by at least 2 Shugenja would allow them to resolve during your next events phase). Determination on the Action events seems to me like it would work. From 20F: Events in Provinces are discarded once an ability on them is used, unless the ability puts the Event itself into play. In as far as that's relevant...
  A: Discarding an Event is not contingent upon its effects successfully resolving. It would still discard if its effects were negated, which is effectively what Norikazu does. Talking about pre-Ivory Events, of course. Newer ones don't discard until their abilities are used, as you said. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 28 Feb 2025