Poisoned Weapon

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Pearl Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Poison

Card Text

Reaction: After Focus Effects resolve in a duel involving one of your Personalities: Give the other Personality in the duel -3C. (If this destroys the Personality, the duel ends immediately without resolution.) Lose 4 Honor.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Poisoned Weapon 0G 2FV Reaction: Play this card during a duel after players reveal Focus cards (if any) and before the duel resolves. Lower the Chi of the other player's Personality by 3. (If a Personality in a duel is destroyed before the duel resolves, the duel ends without resolution.) Lose 4 Honor. This action does not target the Personality." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 29
• Is not an action taken by the Personality in the duel. E.g., you cannot react with Honorable Seppuku. [DW, 24 September 1996] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 29
• The player clockwise from the active player has the first chance to play this card, because "after players reveal focus cards" is not triggered by any one player's decision or action. [JA, 27 September 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 29
• Note that cards focussed in a duel add their focus values to Chi immediately upon being played. [Emerald Edition rulebook] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 48
• This means Poisoned Weapon no longer instantly kills low-Chi Personalities regardless of their focussing. [REVERSAL] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 48
• May be played even if no one focussed. Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 48
• Clarified: duel is abandoned if a participant dies before resolution. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 4
• Q: How does The Coward's Way work with Poisoned Weapon or poison tokens? Do these affect both Personalities? A: These effects aren't duel results, so they only affect your original participant. The extra Personality bring in with The Coward's Way doesn't get involved in the duel except for adding a Chi bonus and sharing the consequences of losing. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 11

Rules Q&A

• Q: The above + Garotte (trickiest possibly): if you call strike, then use the Garotte's extra focus to play TSC, then draw and use instead of focusing S&M (assuming the answer to the above is "yes"), is this legal and can you still play Poisoned Weapon after revealling focus cards?
  A: Garrote says: "Reaction: Bow the Garrote when this Ninja is in a duel and you declare a strike. You may focus once more before the focuses are revealed and the strike is resolved. You may not gain honor from this duel."
  I assume you are using a Ninja with Garrote then, to gain an additional opportunity to focus. You can either play a focus card or something that plays "instead of focusing."
  As mentioned above, The Shadow's Claw won't let you play Smoke and Mirrors out of your Fate Deck, nor will Bayushi Yokuan let you play any of your Reactions in the first place. Martin Lund, "Rules for 7 April 2004", 8 Apr 2004
• Q: Can Poisoned Weapon be used in such a duel (or any other reaction that's used during a duel but not as a reaction to action causing the duel)?
  A: No, it cannot. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 27 August 2003", 28 Aug 2003
• Q: If I am in a duel against a samurai, and my opponent plays Poisoned Weapon, may I use Code of Bushido to cancel it?
  A: No. The Samurai is not taking the action. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 May 2003", 13 May 2003
• Q: If you are dueling a personality (let's say, with three chi) and you Poisoned Weapon them, thus bringing their chi to zero, does Kharmic Strike still resolve?
  A: Kharmic Strike resolves as soon as it's revealed, but it has no effect until the time the winner and loser are normally determined and the results of the duel are applied. Since this is after Poisoned Weapon kills one duelist, you never get to that stage. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 May 2003", 9 May 2003
• Q: The last one (this a little hard for me): a 3 Chi personality duels one of my personalities. We both focus, rising the personality chi above 3. Someone calls strike, we reveal focus, I'm loosing badly. I play a Poisoned Weapon. He will still win the duel, but die after it resolves due to the -3Chi Penalty. Could the other player chose that personality when VD resolves to kill one of my personalities ? The archive says that 0 chi is not a card effect, but I still have doubts about it...
  A: He cannot choose that Personality. The archive is correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2003", 5 Feb 2003
• Q: now when dueling someone with a chi of 3 does Poisoned Weapon kill a peep w/chi of 3 who has focused at least a 1 before the resolution.
  A: No. Focusing adds to Chi as soon as the focus card is put down. [GE p. 61] Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 January 2003", 28 Jan 2003
• Q: Part of the problem seems to be in the rulebook with the phrase "immediately grants your personality a secret chi bonus". I was of the understanding that the resolution is where the bonus is added.
  A: What I am about to say is not sarcasm, but an honest attempt to understand where the confusion is created. You've obviously looked at the rulebook. Why aren't you taking what it says at face value?
  A long time ago, I wrote, "The cards aren't trying to fool you." Well, neither is the rulebook. :) Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 28 December 2002", 28 Dec 2002
• Q: 0 chi personalities die by rulebook effect. It doesn't matter how they got that way. (It doesn't matter how you wound up losing the duel either, btw. Bend Like a Read didn't kill you, the duel did. ^_^)
  But Poisoned Weapon (if it killed you before the end of a duel) would still be a card effect ? Or would it be a rule book effect because it reduced their chi to zero?
  A: Death from 0 Chi is caused by the rulebook. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 November 2002", 20 Nov 2002
• Q: I'm writing this to check if Poisoned Weapon can beat a Kharmic Strike in the right situation.
  Specifically, I'm thinking that a 6 Chi Fushiki challenges 1 Chi Hida Tenshu. Tenshu focuses a Kharmic Strike and then Fushiki strikes. The duel will be tie because of Kharmic Strike, but each player still has an opportunity to play reactons before the duel resolves. Fushiki's player drops a Poisoned Weapon and Tenshu-chan dies immediately. Because Tenshu is dead, the duel does not resolve and Fushiki lives to smite another day.
  I'm pretty sure that is a kosher play, but it would be nice to have confirmation.
  A: It's legal. The MRP of Kharmic Strike says the duel will result in a tie during resolution. It specifically does NOT end the duel immediately, allowing Reactions such as Poisoned Weapon to be taken and have effect. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 Oct. 2002", 8 Oct 2002
• Q: How long does the -3Chi penalty last?... i assume that its until the end of the current turn, correct?
  A: That is correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 August 2002", 23 Aug 2002
• Q: Make Your Choice Playable by Shadowlands?
  Not one with a Stronghold that prohibits swearing fealty.
  The corrolary(sp?) here was : Shadowlands can play Poisoned Weapon even if they can't lose honor. Resolve all other parts of the action. _Thus_ Shadowlands can play make your choice even though they cannot swear fealty. Resolve all other parts of the action.
  A: No. Shadowlands players cannot take actions that involve their own Personalities swearing fealty. Otherwise they could drop as many Oaths of Fealty every game as they drew, for free, giving every single one of their people an additional permanent +1/+1 each time. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 August 2002", 23 Aug 2002
• Q: So if the person dies in the duel, either from having 0 chi like with Poisoned Weapon, or because either contestant used Fatal Mistake, my person will then die with a mile-high personal honor, right?
  A: Right. Jeff Alexander, "post for 30 July 2002", 31 Jul 2002
• Q: In a message dated 6/3/02 11:51:19 PM Central Daylight Time, writes:
  << >3) Can I Winds Truth the 4 honor loss from Poisoned Weapon to a SLH player?
  Same answer.
  Careful, Jeff. An honorable faction *can* Wind's Truth a the honor loss from Poisoned Weapon to a Shadowlands player. The honor loss then pops, and cannot be redirected further, but it's a valid way of ridding yourself the honor loss.
  A: Woops! I misread the question and thought he was trying to steal the loss FROM the Shadowlands player. My bad. Yes, it's legal to redirect that (or most any other) loss to a SL player, and it will promptly disappear. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 June 2002", 5 Jun 2002
• Q: 3) Can I Winds Truth the 4 honor loss from Poisoned Weapon to a SLH player?
  A: Same answer. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 June 2002", 4 Jun 2002
• Q: More specific, could I use Fall on your Knees to cancel a Poisoned Weapon "inside" an Iaijutsu Duel?
  A: Yes, but mainly because Fall On Your Knees is playable during a particular part of the game turn. Your question about whether the duel is "in" the battle is beside the point. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: Strike, and react with Poisoned Weapon (again bowed)?
  A: Yes, since Poisoned Weapon doesn't target anything. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: or my own Poisoned Weapon for that matter.
  A: This can't be responded to with Honorable Seppuku, as it neither targets nor affects your Samurai. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 April 2002", 30 Apr 2002
• Q: 2) Dueling situation. Player A plays Poisoned Weapon. Player B plays Judgment of Toshiken. Player A plays a second Poisoned Weapon. It's accepted from the archives that the -6 Chi til the end of the turn still takes effect, but does the second Poisoned Weapon affect the outcome of the duel? It was ruled that it did in a recent game, but after rereading the cards, I would think that it would not.
  A: Judgement of Toshiken says to resolve the duel based on pre-challenge Chi (or other duel stat) plus printed Focus values. No bonuses or penalties applied before or after will change that fact or have any impact on the duel's outcome -- aside from possibly killing a participant before the duel resolves, since actual Chi is still used to determine when a Personality dies at 0. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 March 2002", 26 Mar 2002
• Q: Here are a few followup questions to what is already been answered:
  1) The Ninja Shapeshifter (who has copied nothing) and the Naga Warlord are in a duel. Both have a Chi of 2. The NSS challenged with an action card. The Warlord strikes. The Warlord plays Poison Weapon; the NSS is dead. Can the NSS player play Poison Weapon in retaliation (the Warlord, due to Reaction order, had first opportunity to play PW)? Or is the duel over before he can send the Warlord to an equally ignominious fate?
  As soon as either participant dies, the duel ends without resolution. The NSS player cannot respond with his own Poisoned Weapon.
  What about if both personalities have focused? If both of them have over 4 chi with focuses added, can both players play Poisoned Weapon?
  A: Anyone whose Chi + focuses totals 4 or more will not die instantly from one Poisoned Weapon, giving that player a chance to play a Poisoned Weapon of his own. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 March 2002", 6 Mar 2002
• Q: Therefore, if a personality with printed chi of 3 and a focus value of at least 1 when focuses are revelaed in the duel has Poisoned Weapon played on them which reduces their chi by 3, they will not die before the resolution of the duel?
  A: Correct. And if he survives the duel, he will die immediately after the duel ends when the focus bonus wears off but Poisoned Weapon's penaly is still present. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 January 2002", 30 Jan 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: Here's a couple of questions I had over the last week or so of playing:
  1) My Scorp is in a duel and I'm playing Shosuro Gardens. My opponent plays a Poisoned Weapon. Can I redirect it to another personality using the Gardens?
  A: No. Poisoned Weapon does not target the Personality. [Gold Edition printing] You cannot redirect untargeted actions. [rulebook] Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 January 2002", 18 Jan 2002
• Q: 4) Is there any way other than a Tea House to stop a Poisoned Weapon? Does it make sense that if you lower the Chi of a Personality using the Poisoned Weapon, but don't kill them before the resolution of the duel, that you still gain a point of honor?
  A: It does if no one notices you using the poison. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 January 2002", 18 Jan 2002
• Q: Well, I hope you rules people had a nice holiday (for those who take some)
  First question
  Poisoned Weapon If focuses are a Chi bonus, what's the exact timing of poisoned weapon, and how long the Chi bonuses of focuses endure, if the duel was not to the death?
  A: Poisoned Weapon's penalty begins when it is played, which is between the strike and duel resolution, and lasts until the end of the turn. Focussing's bonus begins when the card is focused and lasts only until the end of the duel. Jeff Alexander, "post for 15 January 2002", 16 Jan 2002
• Q: If I play Judgement of Toshiken while dueling does the card negate the effects of Bend Like a Reed, Poisoned Weapon, and Strike of Flowing Water?
  A: Yes on Bend like a Reed and Poisoned Weapon, and the trait for Strike of Flowing Water. If you use the Reaction on Strike of Flowing Water, nobody gets discarded focus cards back. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 21 December 2001; Commons challenge", 22 Dec 2001
• Q: Or, if I play Poisoned Weapon and my opponent plays Fall on Your Knees, do I still lose the honor for having played it?
  A: No. That was not a cost. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 December 2001", 17 Dec 2001
• Q: Quick question about dueling reactions. I know that some target, they're easy.
  Poisoned Weapon, Doubt, Shosuro Technique all target (the first two target the opponent, the last targets both the opponent and yourself).
  A: Poisoned Weapon targets nothing due to its own text. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 November 2001", 9 Nov 2001
• Q: [Another Time] is no longer a reaction. So its effects occur automatically once revealed. So the duel is canceled. This occurs before Poisoned Weapon.
  Poisoned Weapon says play this card during a duel.
  A: "during a duel after players reveal Focus cards (if any) and before the duel resolves". That's still after Another Time takes effect and calls the whole duel off. Nothing has changed timing-wise. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 October 2001", 3 Oct 2001
• Q: Poisoned Weapon does not target anything because it says so. The Turtle's Shell targets the ranged attack.
  I would like to point out the Poisoned Weapon does not say that it does not target at all, it say "This action does not target the Personality." This is very different then not targeting at all.
  A: While true, since that Personality is the only thing that *would* have been targeted if not for that line, the result is as I stated: Poisoned Weapon is not a targeted action. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 October 2001", 3 Oct 2001
• Q: - does Poisoned Weapon and Turtle's Shell target something? And may Poisoned Weapon be used in a duel that someone has played Another Time?
  A: Poisoned Weapon does not target anything because it says so. The Turtle's Shell targets the ranged attack. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 October 2001", 2 Oct 2001
• Q: I have some questions about the "poison effect" in duels. The poison token produced by Shosuro Hametsu reduces the chi of the personality before the bonus of the focus cards? I mean ... if a 1 chi personality challenges a 2 chi personality, and it's controller decides to focus (a 2 focus card), then the first personality strikes and uses the token, who dies?
  A: The 2-Chi person goes to 4 Chi as soon as he focuses the 2. The token will bring his total Chi back to 2, which means he'll still win the duel against the 1-Chi person (which may or may not result in the 1-Chi person dying...it depends on the duel). Then the duel ends and the focus bonus wears off, but the -2Chi poison penalty is there for the rest of the turn. That 2-Chi person will now die. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 18 September 2001", 19 Sep 2001
• Q: And if was used a Poisoned Weapon instead of the poison token? Could you help me once more, please?
  A: If a Personality dies -- from having 0 Chi or any other reason -- before a duel resolves, the duel ends prematurely and there is no winner or loser. Focusing adds to Chi immediately, even though only one player will know what the Personality's total Chi is, so it's harder for cards like Poisoned Weapon to kill someone during a duel than you might think. Quite often the person will still die after the duel, though, even if he still won it. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 18 September 2001", 19 Sep 2001
• Q: Relevance can be satisfied by either targeting or affecting something in the battle (or the battle itself). Poisoned Weapon satisfies Relevance.
  Er, OK, yes: it reduces the Chi of one of the participants in the duel.
  However, assuming I have a unit in the battle (so Presence isn't a problem) which of the conditions for Relevance does Acquiring Favour satisfy if I'm trying to send a unit home with Tsudao?
  A: None, which is why I had to rule that it was legal anyway.
  It's obvious now there are more problems caused by the new reaction rules than there were old problems fixed. I'm convinced Reactions need to be made exempt from Relevance once again. I very much want to keep Presence a requirement, however, since prohibiting interference in other players' battles was one of the driving issued behind the changes initially. Jeff Alexander, "replies for 14 September", 15 Sep 2001
• Q: Can you play Fall on Your Knees to cancel a Poisoned Weapon during an I.Duel?
  A: Sure. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 31 July 2001", 1 Aug 2001
• Q: Rule 4. All other effects target. As a general guideline (because this is *so* different from the way that Reactions were previously handled), if a Reaction affects a card in play, assume that it targets unless it specifically says otherwise (Poisoned Weapon, for ex). Something that reacts to a trigger event (Counterattack, The Wind's Truth, The Emperor's Left Hand) probably doesn't target. This rule is going to take a while to work out, but will probably be stabler in the long run.
  Then the question becomes: Does it target the card creating the duel, your personality entering the duel, or both?
  A: Enough Talk? It targets both personalities, the one that you pick to challenge the offending talker, and the offending talker themselves. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: "Judgement of Toshiken 0G 2Fo
  Reaction: Play this card after players reveal Focus cards in a duel. Resolve the duel only by the Chi (or other stat noted on the card creating the duel) of the dueling Personalities before the challenge, plus the Focus cards' printed Focus values. The Double Chi trait works as usual. If either Personality has not focused, each can focus an extra time, starting with the challenged Personality."
  [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001]
  I have a few questions about this card:
  First, can it be played after your opponent plays Poisoned Weapon?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 1-2 July", 5 Jul 2001
• Q: Second, can Poisoned Weapon still be played after Judgement of Toshiken has been played?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 1-2 July", 5 Jul 2001
• Q: Thirdly, if the answer to either of the above is yes, am I correct in thinking that the Poisoned Weapon will have no effect during the duel, but can kill people afterwards?
  A: Correct. You don't take the 3C penalty into account when resolving the duel, as it's neither Chi-before-challenge nor printed focus value, but sufficient Poisoned Weapons can still kill someone in the middle of a duel because you still use real total Chi to determine Chi-death. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 1-2 July", 5 Jul 2001
• Q: "Judgement of Toshiken 0G 2Fo I have a few questions about this card:
  First, can it be played after your opponent plays Poisoned Weapon?
  A: Sure, but only if the Poisoned Weapon didn't straight out kill your personality. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 2001
• Q: Second, can Poisoned Weapon still be played after Judgement of Toshiken has been played?
  A: Yes, but it won't affect the outcome of the duel. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 2001
• Q: Thirdly, if the answer to either of the above is yes, am I correct in thinking that the Poisoned Weapon will have no effect during the duel, but can kill people afterwards?
  A: Can...and will. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 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
• Q: Okay, I started this whole long debate by asking a question, but I guess I wasn't clear enough. What I was trying to ask was: Does the wording on Poisoned Weapon which says that the duel does not occur if the personality dies before it (the duel) resolves. This seemed to indicate to me that you subtracted the 3 Chi first, then added the focuses. This may not be how it is currently played, but it seems to be what the card indicates.
  A: It's quite possible to kill someone anyway: his Chi was low to begin with, he didn't focus at all or focussed only 1s and 2s as a bluff, it wasn't a duel of Chi, more than one Poisoned Weapon got played. That text is there to clarify what happens then. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15 June", 20 Jun 2001
• Q: Poisoned Weapon needs to be changed, specifically as follows.
  1) Poisoned Weapon needs to negate any honor gain from the duel it is played in. As it is, almost any duel's honor gain offsets the penalty of playing this card, which means everyone can play it. 2) The Chi penalty from Poisoned Weapon should only last until the duel ends. Poisoned Weapon is meant to win duels, not kill personalities.
  As an aside, I also firmly believe that Ambush should negate any honor gains made during the battle it creates.
  A: There is already an honor loss associated with these cards. What I hear you saying is that since there is also usually a gain involved in the contexts of playing them, there isn't *really* a loss involved, with which I have to disagree. If there wasn't a loss, why aren't you five points up?
  I also have to admit to being somewhat skeptical, having finally heard a cry of "Broken!" after the combo has been in existance for years. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 12-13 June", 16 Jun 2001
• Q: Action cards do not normally enter play. Instead, they are played from the hand for one of their abilities, or used as a card to focus in a duel or to discard. Some Action cards may have special effects when the card is used for another purpose, such as focusing in a duel.
  A: A reaction on an action card is one of those such abilities, and nothing on Poisoned Weapon allows you to use its reaction from a location other than your hand. Chris Fuchs, "Poisoned Weapon and Focus Pool/Area", 3 Oct 2007
• Q: No sorry I meant instigator for 4 gold is really efficent and poisoned weapon can auto kill a 3 chi or less. My buddy used to use it all the time Haha Oh Haha I was confusing geisha assassin with kolat assassin! That's potentially very gold efficient as well
  A: Of course, neither the Instigator nor either Assassin action can target the guy with the Journal. Duplicate is a nice choice to counter it, apart from 1. it's an Event, so unreliable, 2. the fact the Journal might come back any time, and 3. boosting the heck out of the other guy's economy, especially having to hit a Naga Warlord out of Heart of the Shinomen; suddenly up to 6 Personalities in the deck are free (4 non-Uniques and the 2 Exp versions). Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 7 Mar 2021