Masters of Steel

Legend of the Five Rings card from Words and Deeds

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: Before one of your Personalities is destroyed, destroy one of his Weapons: Negate his destruction.
Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Kensai and target an enemy Personality with lower Force: Bow it.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Race for the Throne (Samurai)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: In the answer given to the question:
  Seppuku: An act of ritual suicide. If an effect directs a Personality to commit seppuku, apply the following effects: “Rehonor the Personality, then destroy him; these effects can not be negated.” Additionally, all players have the following ability. Reaction: Any number of times per turn, before you lose Honor from an action that targeted or was performed by one of your Courtier or Samurai Personalities: He commits seppuku. If the seppuku destroyed him, reduce the Honor loss to one.
  If you use the Seppuku reaction and react with Masters of Steel to negate the destruction, you'll need to react to Masters of Steel with Determination to negate the Seppuku's "these effects cannot be negated". Then, assuming you do that, the Personality will be rehonoured, but not destroyed, and because the Seppuku didn't destroy him, the honour loss will not be reduced.
  Alex AkodoGilador L5R CCG Rules Junta
  MY Question is how does this interact with the comprehensive rules on CAN NOT which states the action taken from the rule book is illegal and thus not able to be announced to allow for Determination to be played
  From Comprehensive rules:
  2. When found in game rules text, the phrase “cannot” applies to the legality of doing something in the first place; it does not imply that doing that thing is merely negated.
  Thank you for your answer, and please re title to one with greater specificity
  [Mod edit: Thread title. - ZF]
  A: Seppuku's effects are game effects, not game rules, so "cannot" is interpreted as effect negation rather than as illegalisation. Alex Jones, "masters of steel and seppuku", 26 Mar 2009
• Q: Let's say I have a dishonored Samurai with a weapon and my opponent causes an honor loss becasuse my Samurai is dishonored. I want to commit seppuku and use Masters of Steel to prevent the death of my Samurai. What will happen?
  a) the Personality rehonor and lose 1 honor (because of reduction)
  b) the Personality rehonor and I lose unreduced number of honor
  A: Seppuku: An act of ritual suicide. If an effect directs a Personality to commit seppuku, apply the following effects: “Rehonor the Personality, then destroy him; these effects can not be negated.” Additionally, all players have the following ability. Reaction: Any number of times per turn, before you lose Honor from an action that targeted or was performed by one of your Courtier or Samurai Personalities: He commits seppuku. If the seppuku destroyed him, reduce the Honor loss to one.
  If you use the Seppuku reaction and react with Masters of Steel to negate the destruction, you'll need to react to Masters of Steel with Determination to negate the Seppuku's "these effects cannot be negated". Then, assuming you do that, the Personality will be rehonoured, but not destroyed, and because the Seppuku didn't destroy him, the honour loss will not be reduced. Alex Jones, "masters of steel and seppuku", 18 Mar 2009