The Power of a Word

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Political

Card Text

Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets your Courtier: The player may choose to lose 3 Honor. If he did not choose this, negate the action's effects.
Battle: Target one to three enemy dishonorable Personalities: The shadow of their shame shall fall upon their shoulders. Move them home.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Hi,
  Let's say Player A has 3 Personalities on a battlefield, one of them having attached Emerald Armor exp 2. Player B plays The Power of a Word for its Battle action. The question: does the Personality with Emerald Armor exp 2 stay on the battlefield, The Power of a Word having resolved on him unsuccessfully due to his attachment's trait, or does he move home along with the rest?
  The Power of a Word (...) Battle: Target one to three enemy dishonorable Personalities: The shadow of their shame shall fall upon their shoulders. Move them home.
  The Emerald Armor - exp2 (...) Other players may not target this Personality with actions while there is another Personality at his location who is a legal target for the action.
  Thanks.
  A: If there are other dishonorable Personalities in the army, the Personality with the Emerald Armor attached is not a valid target for The Power of a Word. Alex Jones, "The Power of a Word + Emerald Armor exp 2", 23 Nov 2012
• Q: The Snow Has Teeth Winter Reaction: After engaging: The current battlefield's province has a maximum strength equal to its base strength until the end of the battle. Negate the next effect that would move one of your Personalities from its battlefield. After the next time this battle a Terrain enters play, destroy it.
  The Power of a Word Political Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets your Courtier: The player may choose to lose 3 Honor. If he did not choose this, negate the action's effects. Battle: Target one to three enemy dishonorable Personalities: The shadow of their shame shall fall upon their shoulders. Move them home.
  Regarding the Battle action on The Power of a Word, would The Snow Has Teeth be able to save only one of your Personalities from being moved home or since the wording says "negate the next effect", would it be able save all targets? Or would it not be able to save anyone at all since it specifies "negate the next effect that would move one of your Personalities" and The Power of a Word would move more than one home?
  A: Something that moves more than one of your Personalities also moves one of your Personalities (otherwise it'd say "exactly one"). In this case, since the effects moving the Personalities are happening simultaneously, the active player would choose which happens "first" and is therefore negated by The Snow Has Teeth. Jon Palmer, "The Snow Has Teeth and The Power of a Word", 26 Jun 2012
• Q: A few days ago we have a ruling conflict involving time reactions resolve.
  1. In a battle I played the battle hability of Tsuruchi Nobukatsu to kill a random courtier.
  (Battle: Ranged 4 Attack. If the Ranged Attack destroyed a card, you may target and straighten a Holding.).
  2. He reacted with The Power of a Word.
  (Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets your Courtier: The player may choose to lose 3 Honor. If he did not choose this, negate the action's effects.)
  3. I decided to go on and lose 3 honor.
  4.Then he played again another copy of The Power of a Word. And I told him that he cannot play another reaction cause the action had been resolved, and, because the text on the card specifies it has to be played "after an action targets your courtier". We asked a friend for ruling and told us I was incorrect (Condemning me to loss 6 honor and the action occurs or losing 3 honor and it doesn't happen) , so I searched in the Comprehensin rules for an acurate answer.
  There I found:
  Timing sequence (...) D: Reactions. Reactions may now be taken following an action round procedure. Starting with the active player, each player in turn order has the option to take a Reaction to one of the triggering occurrences or pass. When all players pass consecutively, no more Reactions to any of the triggering occurrences may be taken.
  The order of resolution means that triggered effects that come first, due to the above order, the order of Reactions, or the active player’s decision, can negate or otherwise make impossible triggered effects and Reactions that come later. When this happens, Reactions to the now nonexistent trigger may not be taken, and other effects are not triggered by it. In steps A and B, the active player determines the order of conflicting triggered occurrences as they are happening, not beforehand. The active player must do so in such a way that each of those occurrences happens exactly once.
  So, from this text I understand my friend had to declare the first TPaW, then I should pass on react, then he plays the second TPaW and finally we resolve the reactions.
  I'm wrong?
  A: You're wrong
  Each Reaction is announced, targeted, paid for and resolved before the opportunity to take a Reaction to the trigger moves on to the next player. This is different to the procedure for triggered traits, etc: the active player chooses the order in which these resolve if their timing conflicts. Alex Jones, "A question about playing multiple reactions", 6 Mar 2012
• Q: the situation is:
  player A has used a Suitengu's Torch reaction on an thunder action
  player B plays The Power of a Word reaction
  Can player A choose to negate his action that cannot be negated and make The Power of a Word reaction not working at all?
  Suitengu's Torch Thunder Reaction: After you announce a Thunder Battle action: Its effects will n ot be negated or delayed. Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality and target an enemy Personality: Move him home.
  The Power of a Word Political Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets your Courtier: The player may choose to lose 3 Honor. If he did not choose this, negate the action's effects. Battle: Target one to three enemy dishonorable Personalities: The shadow of their shame shall fall on their shoulders. Move them home.
  A: Yes, he can.
  The Power of a Word says "if he did not choose this". It doesn't say the negation needed to be successful. As long as the Suitengu's Torch player chooses the negation, even knowing it will fail, he does not lose the 3 honor. Jon Palmer, "Suitengu's Torch vs The Power of a Word", 11 Feb 2012