Astonishing Accusation

Legend of the Five Rings card from Embers of War

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Political

Card Text

Political Reaction: After another player's Political action targets your Personality, negate its effects.
Political Limited: Target a Kolat, Ninja, Shadowlands, or dishonorable Personality. His controller loses Honor equal to his printed Personal Honor.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: When Ingenuity is played during the Action Phase to target two personalities, and the second player reacts with Astonishing Accusation, are the effects negated on both targets? That seems to be the way it reads.
  The text on Astonishing Accusation is: "Reaction: After another player’s Political action targets your Personality: Negate its effects."
  vs.
  "Reaction: After another player’s Political action targets your Personality: Negate its effects on him."
  A: That is correct. Astonishing will negate all effects of the action after it targets your Personality; an action worded as your second would not necessarily do so. Jon Palmer, "Multiple targets vs Negation", 31 Jul 2013
• Q: Hi Rules Team,
  As a Kotei player judge during this past weekend, myself, along with others discussed this at great length and I would like an official ruling as it seems many are confused by this interaction.
  Relevant text: Kitsuki Judgment Limited: Choose your performing unbowed Magistrate, target a Human Personality, and pay Gold equal to his unit's total Gold Cost, +8 unless he is dishonorable, Kolat, Ninja, or Shadowlands: He commits seppuku.
  Astonishing Accusation Reaction: After another player's Political action targets your Personality: Negate its effects.
  The way "Kitsuki Judgment" is read according to the rules of L5R is as follows: PERFORMER & COSTS: EFFECT "He commits seppuku." is the effect of the strategy Kitsuki Judgment.
  Seppuku reads, to my understanding, as follows (please correct me if I'm wrong): Player Ability: Order Seppuku Open: Any number of times per turn, target a dishonorable Courtier, Samurai, or Shugenja Personality you control: He commits seppuku. Rehonor him. Destroy him. This destruction will not be negated.
  Now my understanding of it, and our consensus on how it would be ruled should it come up, is that Astonishing Accusation does in fact negate the effects of Kitsuki Judgment, which according to how it is written is "He commits seppuku." If "He commits seppuku" is negated, the Personality is not destroyed, correct?
  EDIT*: If you are going to re-discuss this based on my presented argument, I believe you also have to re-visit the ruling regarding Bad Kharma as well.
  Please advise. Too many people are playing this card without full clarity on how it works.
  Thanks!
  Anthony Head Judge, Vancouver Kotei 2012, 2011 Player Judge, Burnaby/Vancouver Kotei 2013, Calgary Kotei 2012, Tacoma Kotei 2012, Portland Kotei 2012
  A: Conveniently, there's a whole thread about this already, where Donny tactfully used Remorseful Seppuku to ask the question about Kitsuki Judgment before questions about Kitsuki Judgment were allowed.
  "Commits seppuku" on a card is shorthand for “Rehonor him, then destroy him; these effects will not be negated.” from the rulebook, in the same way that "Ranged X" is shorthand for the rulebook definition of a ranged attack of that strength. Just read the card as if it had the full text of the seppuku definition instead of the shorthand used, and you will see that negation effects cannot stop the rehonoring and destruction from any action that orders a Personality to commit seppuku.
  Remember also that Kitsuki Judgment is not ordering anyone to take the Player Ability "Order Seppuku". What you really want to reference is the seppuku definition here. Jon Palmer, "Astonishing Accusation vs. Kitsuki Judgment", 10 Mar 2013
• Q: If I have Wartime Preparations in play and someone uses Accidental Confession on my personality and I react and negate it with Astonishing Accusation, can he Accidental Confession me again and not have its effects negated?
  A: Yes. [EDIT: Answer stands, but incorrect reasoning behind it excised.] Jon Palmer, "Wartime Preparations vs Accidental Confession vs AA", 8 Aug 2012
• Q: The negation is from a card called "astonishing accusation"
  A: Oh yes, sorry! It's late and I misread.
  So, AA says, Negate its effects. THW says its effects can't be negated. Pretty cut and dried. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 30 Jan 2026