The People's Champion

Legend of the Five Rings card from Training Grounds 2, Scorpion Clan Coup 3, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: Before a player's turn begins, if he may win an Honor Victory and his Family Honor is greater than or equal to the amount required to do so: Any other player, starting with you and proceeding in turn order until a Personality is chosen, may choose one of his unbowed Personalities to issue a challenge that the player whose turn is about to begin may accept with any of his Personalities. If his Personality loses, or the challenge is not accepted, reduce his Family Honor to 39. Destroy the duel's loser.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Clan Wars (Imperial)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• The reduction of honor to 39 is an ordinary, preventable honor loss. [DW] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 28
• The reduction of honor occurs after any honor-gaining Reactions played during the duel. Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 28
• Can be used by Shadowlands players because it only causes an honor loss if the challenge is refused or lost. Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 28
• The reduction of honor to 39 is an ordinary honor loss. It can be prevented with things like the Imperial Favor. The reduction of honor occurs after the duel's resolution. It will occur after any honor-gaining Reactions played during the duel. Can be played by The Shadowlands Horde since it only causes an honor loss if the challenge is refused or lost. Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 47
• Accumulated Rulings Accumulated Rulings, April 22, 1998, p. 27
• Q: The People's Champion sets my honor to 39 if I refuse or lose its challenge. Can I cancel this loss with the Favor? What about using something like the Crane Poet to gain honor even if I lose, so I immediately go back over 39? A: People's Champion causes an ordinary loss -- there's nothing unusual about it except that the amount is flexible -- so the Favor can prevent it. But reactions played during resolution won't help. The reduction doesn't happen until after resolution (otherwise it would replace the normal consequence of the loser dying). Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 23

Rules Q&A

• Q: First: is the People's Champion a Political Action? I don't think it is because it doesn't say Political and it does not modify an honor gain or loss.
  A: It's not inherently Political, no. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 18th", 18 Nov 2000
• Q: The People's Champion does not directly cause an unconditional honor loss because the player could choose to have someone step forward and accept (and win) the challange.
  It looks to me as if Shadowlands players can take this action (for the same reason that they can issue Iajutsu Challanges).
  Can we?
  A: Yes. You may now perform the Dance of Infinite Thanks for a combo that works for Shadowlands players. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 18th", 18 Nov 2000
• Q: (A)t the begining of my turn I'm at 42 honor and that my opponent play a The People's Champion. I accept the challenge and lose it. I play a Gold to prevent my Personality's destruction and then make him make seppuku since The People's Champion produce an honor loss in which he is implicated. Am I correct to think that in this case I only lose 1 honor from the seppuku.
  A: The action for seppuku (Lotus rules, pg. 62) says it can be played when "before you lose Honor as a direct result of an action or effect that targeted this Personality..." Your personality was not targeted, as the word never appears on The People's Champion.
  "...or from an action he performed." Did the Personality meet any of the performance criteria (Lotus rules, pg. 47)?
  "1. Actions on a Personality or Follower are performed by that card." No.
  "2. Actions on an Item or Spell are performed by its Personality." No.
  "3. Actions that involve one or more Personalities or Followers in their costs are performed by those cards." No.
  "4. Actions that cause a Personality controlled by the player who took the action to issue a challenge are performed by that Personality." No.
  "5. All other actions are performed only by their player."
  Seppuku is not legal in this case. Zen Faulkes, "The People's Champion vs. Seppuku", 6 Jun 2007