P'an Ku

Legend of the Five Rings card from Dawn of the Empire

Card Type

Personality

Force

0

Chi

1

Honor Requirement

-

Gold Cost

9

Personal Honor

0

Clan

Unaligned

Keywords

Unique, Dragon, Mad Dragon, Nonhuman

Card Text

Battle/Open: Target another Personality: Permanently copy its base Force.
Battle/Open: Target another Personality: Permanently copy its base Chi.
Battle/Open: Target a non-Dragon Personality: Copy one of its abilities that does not itself copy abilities, or one of its keywords, until the next time this ability is used.

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• The printed stat copied becomes the printed value of P'an Ku's stat. [JA, 17 December 2004] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 120
• Ability may be used to copy ability of Dragon Clan Personalities (unless they are considered a dragon). [ZF, web, 2 March 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 120

Rules Q&A

• Q: 3)if P'an Ku copies the shugenja trait of one of my personalities, are considered Pan'ku printed abilities to be innate abilities?
  A: Yes. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 February 2005", 7 Feb 2005
• Q: Ok Marty, can you please give me a light of Enlightenment.
  When P'an Ku ability "Open: Once per turn, target a non-Dragon Personality. Copy one of the target's abilities or boldface traits until the next time this ability is used.", the setence "this ability is used" refer to the ability copied or the P'an Ku printed ability.
  Because, if refer to the P'an Ku printed ability, you can only have one boldface trait or copied ability at time. So you maken a mistake in your reply below
  A: No. It refers to itself only, not any new abilities created by copying it, which is what happens in this case. Each ability is distinct. Martin Lund, "Rules for 21 January 2005", 24 Jan 2005
• Q: My question is are infinite combos with with P'an Ku legal?
  A: There is no standing rule in L5R that prohibits combos because you can repeat them an unbounded number of times. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 January 2005", 21 Jan 2005
• Q: Apparently there is a question that has been posted on some websites about using P'an Ku to copy the oni trait from an oni in play, then use the mask of the maw to copy Pan Ku's ability:
  Open: Once per turn, target a non-Dragon Personality. Copy one of the target's abilities or boldface traits until the next time this ability is used.
  Then the next step is that P'an Ku uses his ability to copy the ability from the non-dragon (technically his own ability), and then this gives him an additional ability of the same type. Then you continue to do this, only using the new ability you gain to copy it again and again until you have an infinite number.
  Once you feel you have enough of these stacked abilities, you can use these abilities to then copy the -1 chi ability on Chimamire no Oni (for example) and destroy P'an Ku to basically chi death any legal targets of the opponent.
  Is this true? Do the abilities stack, or is it the same ability that is trying to be reused over and over? If these are seperate abilities then is this immune to same old tricks? It is all rather confusing.
  A: Each copy is a brand-new ability, distinct from all others.
  However, you won't be able to use any but the very last one you create to copy any other abilities until the next turn, since they all have the "once per turn" restriction and have already been used.
  It looks perfectly legal - not necessarily a good idea, but legal. Martin Lund, "Rules for 17 January 2005", 21 Jan 2005
• Q: 1) Kaimetsu-Uo is in Egg of P'an Ku-ed. The Egg is killed, and then Feign Deather. Does the trait to gain another province come into play in this instance?
  A: Kaimetsu-Uo says, "After the first time this game Kaimetsu-Uo enters play from a Province, gain a Province to the left of your leftmost Province."
  Being brought into play by Feign Death does not qualify as "enters play from a Province." Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 January 2005", 20 Jan 2005
• Q: I'm wondering specifically if you can duplicate this reaction when an Egg of P'an Ku comes into play copying Shosuro.
  A: Yes, I've fielded this question before.
  The Egg enters play. After it enters play it copies Shosuro's card. Since it is - still - "after entering play" timing, you can use any "after entering play" Reaction Abilities you may have just gained from copying. Martin Lund, "Rules for 4 January 2005", 8 Jan 2005
• Q: Does P'an Ku's ability to copy someone's printed chi effectively "reset" his chi from any permanent chi penalties?
  No. It changes his printed value. All existing penalties and bonuses to his current Chi are still working.
  If P'an Ku is out and I slap an +3F item on him, and then use his ability to copy someone's printed force of say, 6, will he have 6F or 9F, and why?
  9F
  6F (printed) + 3F = 9F (current)
  How is this different from other effects that copy force and/or chi, like shosuro technique?
  A: It is different because P'an Ku says
  "Open: Once per turn, target another Personality. Permanently copy the target¹s printed Force."
  (or likewise with Chi on its other ability)
  P'an Ku does not say what to copy the target's printed Force *to*, so it copies to the exact same stat: P'an Ku's *printed* Force. In other words, P'an Ku sets his printed Force to that of the target. This is different from effects like Shosuro Technique that set *current* Force to a new value. Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 December 2004", 23 Dec 2004
• Q: If P'an Ku is out and I slap an +3F item on him, and then use his ability to copy someone's printed force of say, 6, will he have 6F or 9F, and why?
  A: 9F
  6F (printed) + 3F = 9F (current) Martin Lund, "Rules for 12 December 2004", 15 Dec 2004
• Q: Ooh, I've got a fun one. My opponent has P'an Ku in play, and copied the "Scorpion Clan Air Shugenja" from his own Yogo Rieko (he's playing Scorpion).
  A: That's not all one trait. That's three traits:
  Scorpion Clan Air Shugenja
  He can copy one of them at a time.
  For the purpose of this example, we'll go with "Scorpion Clan" as the trait P'an Ku copied last. Martin Lund, "Rules for 9 December 2004", 12 Dec 2004
• Q: I'm a sneaky Scorpion as well, and Show of Good Faith his P'an Ku, and use his ability to copy the "Loyal" trait of my own Bayushi Paneki - thus, P'an Ku loses the Scorpion affiliation, and if nothing else happens, I'll keep him forever.
  A: Sure. That's sounds like fun. Martin Lund, "Rules for 9 December 2004", 12 Dec 2004
• Q: If I have Pan Ku in play and I copy the Printed force/Chi/ability of a personality. Then play Egg of Pan Ku on Pan Ku. Do I get all of the copied abilies/Stats and the Ability to Copy again?
  A: Yes. The Egg of P'an Ku says, "After entering play, this card becomes a copy of that Personality's printed card plus all permanent changes in effect on it." Martin Lund, "Rules for 28 November 2004", 30 Nov 2004
• Q: Similary, would the Dragon P'an Ku be able to copy that ability, as per his own?
  A: P'an Ku could copy the ability. He doesn't say anything about things being permanent or printed. Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 November 2004", 19 Nov 2004
• Q: Yes.. Marty I believe you did over look something.. Egg of Pan Ku says. "no entering-play effects are produced. Would that effect your answer?
  A: "Entering-play effects," do not include any and all effects of Reaction Actions taken in response to a card entering play. They include triggered effects like "When Akuma enters play it destroys the province from which it enters play." and "Lose 5 Honor."
  The Egg doesn't even gain any of those traits until AFTER it enters play, which is why that text is there, basically. Martin Lund, "Rules for 15 November 2004", 17 Nov 2004
• Q: If I use Pan Ku to copy the Loyal trait, can my opponent Show of Good Faith him over?
  A: According to Jeff's email to me about the Loyal trait:
  "Loyal: When a Personality has the Loyal trait, he or she will not join you unless he or she is aligned with your Faction. You cannot overlay a Loyal Personality over another if you are not playing a Faction that the Loyal Personality is aligned with."
  So, unless P'an Ku gains a Faction Trait, a "Loyal" P'an Ku is theft-proof. Martin Lund, "Rules for 14 November 2004", 17 Nov 2004
• Q: Going by the ruling for Shoshuro & the Egg, If I Egg Konishiko, does that mean I can add a second political open or limited action?
  A: Yes. After it enters play, the Egg gains text that says: "Reaction: After [this card] enters play or overlays: Once per game ..."
  You've met the timing requirement, so you can play the Reaction for that Action's effects. They are not "entering play effects," but rather an Action's effects where the Action just happens to get played afterwards in response to the Egg entering play.
  You have not used that Ability yet this game (each occurrence of an Ability is distinct from any other Abilities, even if they have identical text), so the "Once per game" will not get in your way either. Martin Lund, "Rules for 14 November 2004", 17 Nov 2004
• Q: If I Egg Shosuro, can the Egg use her first react or is it considered an entering play effect?
  A: Strangely enough, you can actually do it. Egg says, "After entering play, this card becomes a copy of that Personality's ..." and Shosuro says, "After Shosuro enters play or overlays:"
  The Egg is pretty odd, but seeing as they have identical timing, it should be perfectly valid to resolve the Egg's "after entering play" effect before taking the opportunity to play any "after entering play" Reactions, unless I've overlooked something. Martin Lund, "Rules for 12 November 2004", 14 Nov 2004
• Q: P'an Ku if the personality has loyal P'an Ku effect works on then? He can steal the personality?
  Thanks and sorry about the noob question!
  A: No, nothing about P'an Ku overrides the Loyal keyword. Jon Palmer, "P'an Ku Questions", 19 Jul 2014
• Q: Let's say that you have a copy of Interrupt the Void's Flow and interrupt a limited action such that the action no longer has any valid targets. (e.g. Egg of P'an Ku and you only have a single Shugenja with Interrupt the Void's flow on it) What's the procedure for resolving the effects of the original action? Do they all fail, or just the ones depending on a the target that has now vanished?
  A: Per the CR, "If an effect requires a target and the player cannot find a legal target, the effects stop immediately, and no further effects or targeting happen." Jon Palmer, "Interrupt the Void's Flow", 5 Jun 2014
• Q: Shadow Dragon XP 2 has a trait that says...
  The Egg of P'an Ku's ability reads:
  For the purposes of trying to copy the Shadow Dragon, is copying a personality the same as copying it's abilities? And if so, can you copy a personality but not its abilities?
  In this case, i imagine the outcome is either: a) the answer is yes, and thus the card can be copied but it comes through with no abilities b) the answer is yes, thus making the shadow dragon not a valid target c) the answer is no, they are different, and thus the shadow dragon and its abilities may be copied.
  thanks
  A: Note that "Shadow Dragon's abilities will not be copied" is a trait that creates a prevention effect, not a restriction, so an effect that "ignores restrictions" won't help. Alex Jones, "Shadow Dragon XP2 vs Egg of P'an Ku", 9 May 2013
• Q: Hi,
  One more question about the Ring of Void.
  viewtopic.php?f=59&t=96015
  I play Egg of P'an ku to copy P'an Ku. => 1 action for the Ring of Void.
  If I use every open action of the copied P'an Ku (all the three of them) in the same phase of the previous action, can I put the Ring of Void into play assuming the copied P'an Ku comes from a Strategy card ?
  Card text : P'an Ku : Unaligned Mad Dragon • Creature • Unique Open: Once per turn, target another Personality. Permanently copy the target's printed Force. Open: Once per turn, target another Personality. Permanently copy the target's printed Chi. Open: Once per turn, target a non-Dragon Personality. Copy one of the target's abilities or boldface traits until the next time this ability is used.
  Ring of Void : Void • Unique After you resolve your fourth or later non-Kiho action from Strategies in one phase: You may put this card into play from your hand.
  Regards, Rémi.
  A: No, sorry.
  When the Egg of P'an Ku "becomes" a copy of the targeted Personality, it ceases to be a Strategy and is instead a Personality. It would go to the Dynasty discard when destroyed (however, if returned to a deck, it would go face-down, forget about being a Personality, and return to the Fate deck). Brook Cunningham, "RE : Ring of the Void + Katas/Spirits", 6 Feb 2012
• Q: Unique
  Limited: Target a Personality, including a Unique Personality or one who will not join you. This card enters play in your home. It becomes a copy of that Personality’s printed card plus all permanent changes in effect on it. None of the Personality’s costs need to be paid and no entering-play effects are produced.
  A: This rectifies the first issue by explicitly stating that the Egg enters play. It rectifies the second by making the change into a Personality just one more effect the Egg produces, with no special timing, therefore any Reactions to the Egg entering play must be used before it changes. Jeff Alexander, "Egg of P'an Ku reversal explanation and clarifying errata", 8 Jul 2005
• Q: Marty, question on your ruling,
  mlund wrote:
  However, the Egg itself has not used that ability this game, and thusly has not reached the max # of uses (once per game) yet.
  (the ability spoken of is Konishiko's coming into play reaction)
  However, the egg reads as follows
  Egg of P'an Ku wrote:
  None of the Personality's costs need to be paid and no entering-play effects are produced.
  So why does Konishiko get around Egg of P'an Ku's card text?
  A: This is the same exact timing as the question on Shosuro and The Egg of P'an Ku. For further reference, see the thread here. The thread was made before the forum went to direct Q & A, so just skip down to my response. Martin Lund, "Egg of P'an Ku and Doji Konishiko Follow-op", 11 Apr 2005
• Q: I am playing against a Dragon Clan player who has Mirumoto in play. I Egg of P'an Ku his Mirumoto. On his turn he issues an unrefusable challenge to me (if the challenge in question matters, let's say it's a Steel on Steel). I understand we both keep our 6 Chi, but who focuses first?
  A: Diamond rules, pg. 34: Third cardinal rule. Active player picks. Zen Faulkes, "Mirumoto and Egg of P'an Ku", 11 Apr 2005
• Q: I've wondered for a while what counts as one of the "permanent effects" noted on Egg of P'an Ku. Are permanent effects related to ongoing effects in this situation? Are tokens permanent effects? What of the conditional straightening from Gozoku?
  A: Wait. It's not "permanent effects," it's permanent change, which is slightly different. Permanent is anything that doesn't go away at the end of the turn (Diamond rules, pg. 70). Tokens are now card effects (Web of Lies rules), but those are not changes to the card. The impact of Gozoku Sensei would be copied. Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: Further, if a personality is Gozoku locked, destroyed, and then Feigned, does it remain locked down by Gozoku Sensei?
  A: Yes (Diamond rules, pg. 70). Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: "Permanent" is a short-hand way of saying "until the end of the game."
  A: - Marty Lund
  Deputy Rules Monkey Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: If I copy Kuon's yu 10, do I just get the yu trait, or yu 10?
  A: Yu always has a value associated with it. 10. Zen Faulkes, "P'an Ku and yu", 21 Mar 2005
• Q: If P'an Ku copies someone's Yu trait and then the next turn uses his ability to copy another trait or action, would he lose the Yu trait completely, or would he have Yu 0?
  A: Yu 0 (Web of Lies rulesheet). Zen Faulkes, "P'an Ku and Yu Part 2", 21 Mar 2005
• Q: I know it was just answered whether P'an Ku can copy abilities infinitely, but it was left vague to not spoil the combo.
  Assuming the combo goes:
  PanKu, an oni, and a copy of the Mask of the Maw are in play
  Pan Ku copies the Oni trait
  Then the Mask wearer copies P'anKu's ability to copy on the next turn
  The dragon copies immediately the ability back and then using the new copy, copies the copying ability.
  Repeating the last step over and over, you get infinite copies of the copy.
  *edit:* Reformatted for easier reading.
  That's where the combo gets weird. If I use the last ability in the chain, to copy to something else, that's fine. However, if I do that and then copy using the second to last copying ability in the chain, the final ability to copy on the copying chain goes away. Does the copied ability at the end of the chain go away too? I think this has been fuzzy for a lot of people now due to page 68 of the rulebook where it says "if a copied ability is lost, remove from the game any tokens it created and end any effect it produced whose duration depends on its own card". Does that apply to the copying abilities?
  I hope I explained that well enough.
  A: Answered here. Martin Lund, "P'an Ku infinite copying", 17 Mar 2005
• Q: From Death of Ryoshun:
  "Until the beginning of your next turn, actions on the cards with that title may not be used."
  Does this also refer to actions copied from that card?
  Does it affect identical actions on cards with other names?
  Examples:
  P'an Ku copies Saemon's ability to react to being targeted. Saemon is named with Death of Ryoshun. Can P'an Ku still use the reaction?
  Chimamire no Oni is named with Death of Ryoshun. Then Personality Bob uses Mask of the Maw to copy Chimamire no Oni's ability (after Death has been used). Can Bob use the Chimamire's ability?
  Bob has the ability "Battle: Bow for a ranged 3 attack"
  Fred also has the ability "Battle: Bow for a ranged 3 attack"
  Bob is named with Death of Ryoshun. Can Fred not use his ability because he has the same action as one on the card named Bob?
  Thanks,
  Leon
  A: No. No. Zen Faulkes, "Death of Ryoshun clarification", 17 Mar 2005
• Q: The egg doesn't say that it ceases to be an action or that it loses its own text when it copies the personality.
  A: It does. That's what "becomes a copy" means. Zen Faulkes, "Horrible Egg of P'an-Ku question", 14 Mar 2005
• Q: if I copy the second ability off Isawa Sachi(,) am I able to use this ability even though the personality performing it is P'an Ku and not Sachi?
  A: Diamond rules, pg. 69. Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Another Stupid P'an Ku Question", 14 Mar 2005
• Q: Both the Unique personality and the Egg get surged on the same turn. What will happen before the beginning of the turn after?
  A: This one: Zen Faulkes, "Double Suitengu's Surge and Egg of P'an Ku", 10 Mar 2005
• Q: After the new errata takes effect, if P'an Ku copies Saori's ability, he will be able to issue the duel himself, right?
  A: Diamond rules, pg. 69. Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Post-errata Saori question", 9 Mar 2005
• Q: Why, once you Egg a Loyal and/or Singular guy, breaking normal rules... do you get to Keep him?
  A: Because there is no rule governing what happens if a player legally gains control of more than one card with the Singular trait (e.g. "If you control two Singular cards, destroy one" or somesuch). Once a card comes into play legally, it stays where it is unless some other effect acts on it (much like attachment requirements).
  You gain control of the Egg in play well before it gains the Singular trait.
  Since you already established control of the card, before it acquired Singular or Loyal, you can't be prevented from gaining control of it - that's in the past.
  And, as Zen pointed out, there is no rule that says what to do if you already have control of a card that then becomes illegal to control (such as by gaining traits like Singular or Loyal).
  So it stays put until acted upon by an outside force.
  - Marty Lund
  Deputy Rules Monkey Zen Faulkes, "Egg of Pan Ku", 8 Mar 2005
• Q: P'an Ku (F Personality [DotE] SD): 0F 1C -H 9G 0PH * Unaligned Mad Dragon * Creature * Unique * Open: Once per turn, target another Personality. Permanently copy the target's printed Force. * Open: Once per turn, target another Personality. Permanently copy the target's printed Chi. * Open: Once per turn, target a non-Dragon Personality. Copy one of the target's abilities or boldface traits until the next time this ability is used.
  I noticed that P'an Ku lacks the traditional "this does not refer to Dragon Clan Personalities" clause after it says "non-Dragon". Does this mean that he actually can't copy Dragon Clan Personalities, or is there something I'm missing?
  I noticed that P'an Ku lacks the traditional "this does not refer to Dragon Clan Personalities" clause after it says "non-Dragon". Does this mean that he actually can't copy Dragon Clan Personalities(?)
  A: P'an Ku can copy Dragon Clan Personalities, but not the scaly Dragons. Zen Faulkes, "P'an Ku", 3 Mar 2005
• Q: I noticed that P'an Ku lacks the traditional "this does not refer to Dragon Clan Personalities" clause after it says "non-Dragon". Does this mean that he actually can't copy Dragon Clan Personalities(?)
  A: P'an Ku can copy Dragon Clan Personalities, but not the scaly Dragons. Zen Faulkes, "P'an Ku", 2 Mar 2005
• Q: ... but because the rules changed, I have to start a new thread to ask for a clarification (count that as a vote that the new rules are kinda stupid...)
  I'm still confused by Marty and Jeff's answer on the P'an Ku debate. Does that long-forgotten rule finally, effectively prevent the various infinite-ability combos with P'an Ku?
  (For those who don't know what I'm talking about: read the P'an Ku thread; I just can't make out what Marty's quote of Jeff's answer actually means, there are too many questions and devious expressions in there - English isn't my native language, after all, so I've got an excuse )
  A: The rule on Page 68 reads: "If a copied ability is lost, remove from the game any tokesn it created and end any effect it produced whose duration depends on its own card (like "while this card remains bowed")."
  I asked Jeff whether this applied to using an ability that's previous use has a duration of "until this ability is used again."
  Jeff says, "No." That's not what the rulebook meant by "depends on its own card."
  So you can spend one turn with P'an Ku copying a copy of its own ability that another non-Dragon Personality made in a long chain.
  Copy Ability #1 (makes)
  -> Copy Ability #2 (makes)
  --> Copy Ability #3 (makes)
  ...
  - ... -> Copy Ability #N
  Then you can spend the next turn using that long chain of copies to copy other abilities. So long as you start with the latest copy (#N) and move up the chain until you hit the original (#1), "parent" abilities will not wipe out their "children." Martin Lund, "Actually a followup on the P'an Ku thread...", 24 Feb 2005
• Q: I remember Zen did a card review about Egg of P'an Ku, which was really a mini-FAQ (it's on his site).
  A: But that was a long time ago, and the text of the Egg has changed a lot since then. Don't put much stock in what it says. Zen Faulkes, "A Couple More Egg Questions", 7 Feb 2005
• Q: Okay, what about the 2nd and 3rd questions?
  A: I thought they were redundant (too many double negatives). Answered 2 a second ago. 3 is yes, you can buy Hiruma. Zen Faulkes, "A Few Egg of P'an Ku Questions", 6 Feb 2005
• Q: Is Unique a restriction, just like Loyal?
  A: Yes (Diamond glossary, pg. 103). Zen Faulkes, "A Few Egg of P'an Ku Questions", 6 Feb 2005
• Q: If my Hiruma shows up later, can I buy him?
  A: No. Zen Faulkes, "A Few Egg of P'an Ku Questions", 6 Feb 2005
• Q: Sorry basic rules question regarding "Unique" cards.
  I know it's one copy of a Unique card for your deck and in your board. But does this check on a similar Unique card played by your opponent?
  Ex. if I have my Egg of Pan Ku or a Ring element or a unique personality in play, can opponent put theirs into the board too?
  I'm guessing the answer is yes.
  A: Yes. Unique used to be a full-board restriction for both players, but it is not any longer. Brook Cunningham, "Onyx Lives #rules-questions", 26 Oct 2026