The Wind's Truth

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Honor Bound, A Perfect Cut

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Elemental, Kiho, Political

Card Text

Reaction: Before a player gains or loses Honor, bow your performing Monk or Shugenja and target another player: If the performer's Chi is higher than or equal to the Honor gain or loss, the target instead of the original player takes the gain or loss.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "The Wind's Truth 0G 4FV Kiho Elemental Political Reaction: When any player gains or loses Honor, bow one of your Monks or Shugenja with Chi greater than or equal to the gain or loss to redirect the gain or loss to a different player." [MRP, A Perfect Cut, 4 September 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 60
• The source and amount of the gain / loss are unchanged. [7/12/99] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 60
• Targets the honor gain / loss and the new recipient. [JA, 26 April 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 60
• "Another player" refers to a player other than the one suffering the gain/loss, not a player other than the kiho's caster. [l5rinfo, 7/15/99] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 63
• Focus on... The Wind's Truth: The Wind's Truth is Political, by glossary definition. "Another player" means someone other than the one who is going to gain/lose the Honor, not someone other than the caster. The Honor gain from winning or tying in a battle is one single gain. Deadly Ground, and possibly Night Battle, render it illegal, since they last for the entire battle and Honor is gained during the Resolution Segment. The source of the gain/loss remains unchanged. The Ring of Air can redirect it, but only to another "another player," so you can't send the gain/loss right back to the player from which it was just taken. In a two-player game, the Ring of Air cannot be used on it. The Imperial Herald, Issue 12, p. 34

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can Tamori Shaitung exp cancel my opponent's The Wind's Truth. His argument was he wasn't targeting me, only himself as the recipient of the Wind's Truth. We pulled out the rulebook but couldn't find anything definitive.
  A: The Wind's Truth targets the honor gain or loss and the new player receiving it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 April 2003", 29 Apr 2003
• Q: My opponent casts The Wind's Truth to redirect the honor gain to himself [with Deeds, Not Words in effect]. Does he gain or lose honor?
  A: Lose. He didn't gain the honor via battle or duel. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 22 April 2003", 23 Apr 2003
• Q: Cards Ivolved: Kolat Assassin, Imperial Messenger, Wind's Truth
  Let's say I play Kolat Assassin, I wanted to increase the honor loss with my Imperial Messenger, but as my opponent gets the first reaction he steals the honor loss first.
  My question: can I still use my reaction, possibly rendering the Wind's Truth unusable?
  A: First, let's make sure your opponent REALLY gets to react first. Gold Edition rulebook, page 48:
  ] If more than one player wishes to take Reactions at the same ] time, first consider the exact wording of the Reactions. A ] Reaction taken "before" its trigger, for example, is always ] playable before one taken "after" its trigger. If the Reactions ] have the same wording for when they're taken, the chance to ] take the first Reaction goes to the player to the left of the ] one who caused the trigger. For things like the beginning of a ] phase, treat the active player -- the one whose turn it is -- ] as the one who caused the trigger.
  The Wind's Truth is cast "when any player gains or loses honor", but Imperial Messenger has to be bowed "before a player plays a card that will cause that player an Honor loss." In this case it's clear: Imperial Messenger is ALWAYS used before The Wind's Truth is. Your opponent cannot steal your loss before you double it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 February 2003", 28 Feb 2003
• Q: for instance:
  Shugenja comes into play, causing an honor loss, can that shugenja cast "the Wind's Truth" in response?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 February 2003", 4 Feb 2003
• Q: Dark Oracle of Air says that the honor loss from its action cannot be copied or modified. Does modified mean I cannot use The Wind's Truth to redirect the loss?
  Yes. Redirecting it is modifying it.
  How about Kaukatsu? I'd say no as I lost honor, and he is reacting to create a new honor loss.
  A: Kaukatsu copies the loss, and the Oracle clearly prohibits copying. Jeff Alexander, "post for 11 October 2002", 12 Oct 2002
• Q: Dark Oracle of Air says that the honor loss from its action cannot be copied or modified. Does modified mean I cannot use The Wind's Truth to redirect the loss?
  A: Yes. Redirecting it is modifying it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 Oct 2002", 11 Oct 2002
• Q: 2) If I'm loosing honor for whatever reason, and I bow Bayushi Kaukatsu to share it with my opponent, can I then The Wind's Truth the loss I recieved to him as well?
  A: No. Wind's Truth is played "when" the loss happens. Kaukatsu is used "after". Wind's Truth must be played first, and if it is, you no longer suffer a loss that Kaukatsu can react to.
  Kaukatsu's original version, Bayushi Goshiu, was deliberately worded in this way to render it impossible to "have your cake and eat it too" -- if you want to duplicate a loss, you have to actually suffer it yourself. This one card, printed way back in the Shadowlands expansion, is the primary reason that Reaction timing conflicts are resolved first by exact card text, THEN in some sort of turn order. Jeff Alexander, "post for 15 August 2002", 11 Sep 2002
• Q: I want to know specifically with regards to The Wind's Truth as if the personality is indeed "taking" the action and not just "performing", they could be challenged via Enough Talk!. I would like to know the same with regards to lobbying for the Imperial Favour.
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 September 2002", 6 Sep 2002
• Q: Text of card:
  We Will Have Revenge 0G Reaction: Play after losing honor due to another player's action. Target one of your units and one of that player's units. Negate the honor loss. Your unit begins an attack against the other. No units can be assigned or move to the battle, and the battle cannot destroy a Province. The units cannot move to provinces from the battle. You cannot take this action during an attack or duel. FV 3
  Will this trigger off of The Wind's Truth sending an honor loss my way?
  A: The Wind's Truth does not change the source of the loss. If, and only if, the loss your opponent redirects to you came from one of her actions, you may react with We Will Have Revenge. (Which means you can't react to, say, the redirected loss from bringing a Corrupt Iron Mine into play.) Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 August 2002", 23 Aug 2002
• Q: If two personalities duel and one has a Taijikku [...] and that personality used the Open action before the challenge/duel can the other personalities controller refuse the challenge and use The Winds Truth to redirect the honor lose to the player with the Taijikku equipped personality? Also, same question for Kakita Rensai and during the effects of the event Tsukune's Choice.
  A: Archive, General rules, Duels: "Everything that occurs after a challenge is accepted is "during a duel." [JA, 7 November 2001]" Honor gains are effects of the action initiating the duel, so they can't be futzed by Reactions if Reactions are forbidden. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 July 2002", 11 Jul 2002
• Q: Just out of curiosity,
  How would the following scenario work out...
  Can a shugenja or monk bow an attached Diplomatic Apprentice instead of him or herself when performing The Wind's Truth?
  A: It's a Political action. [card text] The Personality is bowing as a cost of playing it. [card text] Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 June 2002", 4 Jun 2002
• Q: Can you redirect a honor gain with TWT that was redirected previously with TWT?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: Yes, it is possible to play "honor tennis" with multiple copies of The Wind's Truth.
  What is the timing with a Shiba Halls player with only one copy of TWT, who is facing an opponent with a TWT? Can he bounce it in time to redirect again?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: you may also the wind truth honor loses to a shadowlands player heard this from dave williams at orocon..
  A: Yup. That effectively makes it disappear. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: Just to clarify for other people that don't understand. This is done as long as there are more than two people involved. So technically you cannot play "honor tennis."
  The Wind's Truth Reads, "The Wind's Truth 0G 4FV Kiho Elemental Political Reaction: When any player gains or loses Honor, bow one of your Monks or Shugenja with Chi greater than or equal to the gain or loss to redirect the gain or loss to a different player." [MRP, A Perfect Cut, 4 September 2001] The source and amount of the gain or loss remain unchanged. [7/12/99] The Ring of Air can redirect it, but only to another "different player," so you can't send the gain/loss right back to the player it was just taken from. In a two-player game, the Ring cannot be used on it. [Netnews, 9/2/99]
  Targets the honor gain / loss and the new recipient. [JA, 26 April 2002]
  A: You're getting two rulings confused.
  You can, in fact, use a second Wind's Truth to redirect a gain directly back to the player that the first Wind's Truth took it from. The Ring of Air ruling doesn't apply when you're trying to redirect the gain a second time, but rather when you're trying to change who the FIRST Wind's Truth redirects it to. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: The following situation occurred in the SotC tournament we had yesterday.
  Player A (using Eternal Halls) sent an honor loss via Wind's Truth to player B. Player B used Kaukatsu to share the honor loss. Player A wanted to know if he could bounce the Wind's Truth back to his hand before he took the honor hit, to send it back to player B.
  So the question is, which of the following is true: 1) Wind's Truth goes off, and players get to react to the playing of the Wind's Truth before it resolves, including bouncing it back to hand, thus it being in hand before player B takes the honor hit. (I'm fairly certain this isn't it)
  OR
  2) Before bouncing the Wind's Truth it must fully resolve (successfully be cast), and thus player B takes the honor hit and gets first reaction (using Kaukatsu), so player A takes the honor hit before Wind's Truth is back in hand.
  OR
  3) The reaction frame goes like this: Play Wind's Truth...any reactions to cancel it? No Wind's Truth is successfully cast...any reactions to the success of the casting? Yes...bounce it. The Wind's Truth takes effect...any reactions to the effects? Yes, Kaukatsu So again, the Wind's Truth is in hand.
  Or
  4) Wind's Truth is cast, player B loses honor and uses Kaukatsu, but the reaction window is still open from the Wind's Truth casting, and thus player A can take the Wind's Truth back into hand and play it before taking the honor hit.
  (And yeah, I read the timing rules in the rulebook!) ;)
  A: Long question!
  Short answer: #3.
  Side note: you should never find yourself in a race between Wind's Truth and Kaukatsu, since Wind's Truth is played "when" honor is lost while Kaukatsu is used "after". There's an arbitrarily large gap between these two reactions' timing windows, and so neither #2 nor #4 can be correct answers. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 March 2002", 19 Mar 2002
• Q: 2) Similar example, if a Monk or Shugenja uses The Wind's Truth to steal some honor, and that Monk or Shugenja is Dishonored, is there an honor gain, or is that Monk or Shugenja rehonored?
  A: The Monk or Shugenja is not rehonored. Modifying an honor gain will not restore a Personality to honor. [AOF rulebook page 60] Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2002", 5 Feb 2002
• Q: 3) If the answer to either of the above questions is "They are rehonored.", then I think I remember the rulebook saying that there is no actual Honor gain from such an occurence. Would that mean that The Wind's Truth cannot be used in this a case like this? Or would it be legal for the other player to steal the honor and leave the Dishonored Personality that was involved in the Honor gain Dishonored?
  A: There would be no gain to steal. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2002", 5 Feb 2002
• Q: I have a 3 chi shugenja and a The Wind's Truth, Suspicions resolve, Nagori#1 reacts, Nagori#2 reacts....could I react to the 3 honor loss or my time is passed?...could Nagori#3 then reactto make me lose 1 honor?
  A: Since both The Wind's Truth and Doji Nagori are used "when" another player gains Honor, it's possible to wait for two Nagoris to happen before casting Wind's Truth. If you've moved the loss away from yourself, Nagori #3 can't increase your loss by 1. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2002", 5 Feb 2002
• Q: b.) Same question, but replace "Kaukatsu" with "The Wind's Truth".
  A: The source here remains Tjeki, since all the Wind's Truth does is change who it affects. It would be immediately negated. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 December 2001", 19 Dec 2001
• Q: In a message dated Mon, 3 Dec 2001 3:15:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, "Wilson, Mike" writes:
  I kind of figured that Onisu didn't count as Oni, but I wanted to ask because "The Wind's Truth" does count as a wind card even though it's in its posessive form
  I thought the Wind's truth did count as a wind card. Can we have a ruling on this vaugh, I have nothing in the archives to say otherwise.
  A: It's not in the archive. It's in the rulebook. "The singular, plural, and possessive forms of a word are all equivalent." [p. 33] The Wind's Truth is a Wind card. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 December 2001", 5 Dec 2001
• Q: A couple of questions:
  1. Surrender and The Winds Truth If you use surrender when losing a battle and your opponent choses to destroy only part of your Army, can you use TWT on the honor gain only - or can you only use TWT on the total honor gain/loss resulting?
  A: There's a seperate loss and gain, not a net adjustment. Like normal battle gains, you can't subdivide the total gain, but there are two seperate things happening. With a high enough Chi Shugenja, you could easily steal the gain and leave the loss. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 17th", 17 Aug 2001
• Q: In a message dated 01-07-18 05:37:26 EDT, the splendiferous Vaughn wrote:
  << Something that reacts to a trigger event (Counterattack, The Wind's Truth, The Emperor's Left Hand) probably doesn't target.
  Okay, I'll be the first to admit that the new targeting rules are still more than a bit unclear to me, but I don't see how this can be true. Don't all these fall under the "All other effects target" clause? (TWT in particular always *has* targeted, to my knowledge, since you had to target a player to redirect the honor to...) In each case, it's likely to be a targeted player, not card in play, and therefore likely irrelevant, but it seems to me that Targeting Rule #4 should apply. Can you explain (in small words, please <grin>) why it doesn't?
  A: The Junta is going to have to discuss this one a little. Sometimes it seems like there's nothing *to* target. I need to find out from Dave how Doomtown handles these, since its targeting rules were the basis of Gold's. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-20 July", 26 Jul 2001
• Q: Here's another one: Does The Wind's Truth target the player that is gaining/losing Honor in the first place?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-20 July", 26 Jul 2001
• Q: Here's another one: Does The Wind's Truth target the player that is gaining/losing Honor in the first place? I know you target the player you are redirecting the gain/loss to, but it is the first I am doubting. Is this the same as OLOA where a Reaction's trigger event happens?
  A: Wind's Truth will target the honor gain and the player that it gets redirected to, not the player that was originally gaining the honor. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 20th", 20 Jul 2001
• Q: In a message dated 01-07-18 05:37:26 EDT, the splendiferous Vaughn wrote:
  << Something that reacts to a trigger event (Counterattack, The Wind's Truth, The Emperor's Left Hand) probably doesn't target.
  Okay, I'll be the first to admit that the new targeting rules are still more than a bit unclear to me, but I don't see how this can be true. Don't all these fall under the "All other effects target" clause? (TWT in particular always *has* targeted, to my knowledge, since you had to target a player to redirect the honor to...) In each case, it's likely to be a targeted player, not card in play, and therefore likely irrelevant, but it seems to me that Targeting Rule #4 should apply. Can you explain (in small words, please <grin>) why it doesn't?
  A: Well, I'll try. Mostly, I'm just answering the questions as I go. As much as anyone else is struggling with this new rule, I'm struggling as well. I just don't see how a Reaction can target a moment in time. Up until now, the definition of targeting has pretty much referred exclusively to cards and players currently somewhere in the game. The new rules might change that a bit, but I really don't believe that they change it *so* much that an instant should become a targetable 'thing'. I might be wrong, but I'm really just trying right now to fit this new rule in my head with my vision of the framework for targeting. Target an item? Sure. Target a Spell? Yeah. Target a personality? Definitely. Target a moment in time? I'm not so sure. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 19 Jul 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: My question: Does this mean that I (as a standard clan player) can use The Wind's Truth to redirect one of my honor losses to a Shadowlands Horde player where it is promptly negated?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 18 March 2001", 24 Mar 2001
• Q: Repine, James writes: Can I bow my Stronghold to buy the 10G Personality, then, once my opponent declines to Kolat Bookkeep me, bow the two Jade Works for the rest (and, if KB is played, I'll then bow the Jade Works for something else)? Or do I have to first try to meet the full cost, and then see whether something happens?
  You have to announce how you are paying for the personality in full and then see if your opponent does something. Also note, if you can fulfill the cost another way (i.e. bowing other holdings), you may do so in order to cover the cost of the card in question.
  For more complicated questions about such timing, one could add corrupt holdings, an Honor Requirement on the Personality, and various tricks like The Wind's Truth with possible reactions to it - basically, the question is, can the cost payment be lumped into one big trigger for possible reactions, or is there a sequence?
  Can you be a little more specific? If you bow 2 corrupt gold producing holdings, they are separate honor losses..... (not sure what else you mean).
  Well, if I bow a corrupt Holding, that starts a "lose Honor" trigger. When that happens, Reactions can start happening (Imperial Favor, The Wind's Truth). Since The Wind's Truth is Political, that can start duels (Enough Talk!). Someone may end up dying as a result of this, which means lots of things can happen, including initially uninvolved people dying (if someone loses a Personality of a Clan they have the Sword for, the Sword-bearer loses Chi, and this may result in him dying - possibly dishonorably).
  An incredible lot of things can happen when someone bows a corrupt holding. When more than one such holding is bowed, it can be even worse - so I'd like to know what the precise timing of this would.
  A: It's just like any other Reaction chain. As soon as there is a legal trigger, the whole chain starts. Assuming infinite hand size, it would concevably be possible for a whole game to be won or lost in the Reaction chain following the bowing of one corrupt holding, without ever reaching the resolution of the action the holding was bowed to pay for. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for January 26th", 27 Jan 2001
• Q: For more complicated questions about such timing, one could add corrupt holdings, an Honor Requirement on the Personality, and various tricks like The Wind's Truth with possible reactions to it - basically, the question is, can the cost payment be lumped into one big trigger for possible reactions, or is there a sequence?
  A: It's lumped. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 23 January 2001", 25 Jan 2001
• Q: Also, is the honor reduction (the drop from 40-something to 39) and honor loss? If so that means I can use The Wind's Truth to redirect it.
  A: It is an honor loss, and yes you can redirect it with The Wind's Truth. The loss generated is exactly equal to what it would take to reduce the original 'target' of People's Champion to 39 honor. You could also Dirty Politics it, which is kinda fun. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 18th", 18 Nov 2000