Uncertainty

Legend of the Five Rings card from Diamond Edition, Ambition's Debt, Gold Edition, Ivory Edition, Onyx Edition, Shattered Empire, Broken Blades, Promotional–Ivory

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle/Open: A target Personality has a minimum Chi of 1. Give him -2F/-2C.

Focus Value

1

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Rain of Blood (Diamond), Shattered Empire, War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: (EG, can I dig up my opponent's Iuchiban with my Seppun Jin? This came up last night. I had Uncertainty/Kolated him first..)
  A: Seppun Jin's ability does not produce a Spell Effect. It is neither a Spell nor Kiho Action. Under the Diamond Edition Rules, only these two kinds of Actions produce Spell Effects. Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 September 2004", 23 Sep 2004
• Q: I asked this a while back, and Marty was 'consulting' Jeff.
  It's my opponents turn, he targets a 3 chi personality of mine with a Daigotsu Dojo. I play Uncertainty on my 3 chi personality. He plays Written in Blood on my 3 chi personality.
  So his chi is -2 for the purposes of adding bonuses and 1 due to Uncertainty's effect.
  At the end of the turn, can he choose the order in which the three effects end, (ie Uncertainty, Daigotsu Dojo, Written in Blood) so that my personality dies as a result?
  A: No. Since there is no conflict involved in ending all the effects at the same time, they all end at the same time. Martin Lund, "Rules for 4 August 2004", 9 Aug 2004
• Q: At end of turn, can the active player (SLH) choose for the Uncertainty effect to wear off first (thus killing Hiro) or do the penalties wear off simultaeneously (leaving him alone)?
  A: I'm going to talk to Jeff about this one. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 July 2004 (for real this time)", 4 Jul 2004
• Q: Does PW affect Rekai's Chi of 3 *before* her focus is considered (thereby killing her and keeping the Bloodsword at +1/+1), or is it considered along with the Chukandomo focus? What if she had been targeted with Uncertainty before the duel?
  A: She already has the +4 Chi from focusing Chukandomo, well before Poisoned Weapon can be resolved.
  "This card immediately grants your Personality a secret chi bonus equal to it Focus value until the duel ends." (Diamond Edition Rulebook, page 89, "Challenging and Dueling") Martin Lund, "Rules for 7 April 2004", 8 Apr 2004
• Q: And for that matter, how long do effects like Wounded in Battle, Uncertainty etc. last?
  A: Until the turn ends unless specified otherwise on the card. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 March 2004", 26 Mar 2004
• Q: 1- May I Uncertainty any personality in play on my opponent's side, in a battle or not, if we are in a battle, I have Presence in the battle, and it is the current one being resolved? Or may I only target an opposing personality?
  A: You must satisfy Presence and Relevance. The only way to satisfy Relevance with Uncertainty is to target a Personality in the current battle. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 September 2002", 25 Sep 2002
• Q: 3.) With regards to the "memory" of cards. Recently it was posted that, in a duel, if a personality with 2 chi was targeted with Uncertainty then challenged with a duel, the remaining -1 chi deduction would carry over to his/her first focus, meaning that if the personality was 1 chi upon entering the duel, focused a 4, the acutal chi + focus value for the personality would be 3. If that is true, would the same apply to personalites at a battle at a Shadowland's Marsh?
  A: Absolutely. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 May 2002", 30 May 2002
• Q: D) I target a 0/2 opposing personality with Uncertainty and then I challenge him. My opponent play a 4 focus card and I strike. What is the chi of the personality for the duel?
  A: 2 - 2 + 4, then raised to a minimum of 1 if below 1. His Chi would be 4. Jeff Alexander, "post for 6 May 2002", 7 May 2002
• Q: Quick question here. Let's say I play Uncertainty on another player's personality, reducing him to 0 force. Then I cast Energy Transference on said personailty. Which switches his force and chi. Does the personality die, or will Uncertainty protect him?
  A: Uncertainty gives him a Chi minimum of 1, which applies after his Chi gets set to 0 [DA rulebook p. 31] and so saves him. Jeff Alexander, "post for 26 April 2002", 27 Apr 2002
• Q: Q2) Can Uncertainty be played during a battle where you have no units?
  A: No, for the same reason. Jeff Alexander, "post for 11-12 February 2002", 12 Feb 2002
• Q: No. If I remember correctly, Uncertainty doesn't let chi go below 1 due to Uncertainty, so it's legal to energy transference that personality to death.
  A: By card text, Uncertainty sets the Personality's minimum Chi at 1 against all possible reductions, not just its own. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 February 2002", 7 Feb 2002
• Q: 1) If I play Uncertainty in a 2/3 personality (making him 0/1 can't drop his chi below 1) and then cast Energy transference, The personality is killed?
  A: He would change from a 0/1 to a 1/0 -- or he'd at least try. His Chi would be immediately reset to 1 due to Uncertainty's other effect. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2002", 5 Feb 2002
• Q: If I used the card Uncertainty on say, Kakita Toshimoko X, then cast Energy Transference on him, what would result? Would the E.T. PKill be stopped by the Uncertainty, or would that be transfered to the Force?
  A: Uncertainty would stop the death. Uncertainty sets the Personality's minimum Chi to 1. Energy Transference is, by definition, a Chi reduction if the Personality has less Force than Chi when it's cast, so it would stop at 1 instead of going to 0. Jeff Alexander, "post for 15 October 2001", 16 Oct 2001
• Q: It is my understanding that effects like Uncertainty will still be affecting the Personality - ISotF only reduces Force bonuses to zero, not Force penalties.
  A: You would be correct there. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 15-16 April 2001", 19 Apr 2001
• Q: Iuchi Shahai has the battle ability to give herself a -1F/-1C maho token and then, if she's still alive, give one to someone else, and this can be done 3 times per turn.
  Uncertainty gives a target personality -2F/-2C, but states that the target's chi may not go under 1 chi.
  So, can I drop Uncertainty on Shahai and keep her alive while she doles out the maho?
  A: Sure. There's nothing special about Shahai's ability that would override the effect of Uncertainty. She'll still die at the end of the turn, though, because the tokens will still be there when the effect of Uncertainty wears off. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for January 26th", 27 Jan 2001
• Q: Example: Gohei attacks. He is 3 force while attacking. The defending player plays Uncertainty (-2,-2). The attacking player drops a Battle of Shallow Waters. At resolution Gohei has 1 force, because his force bonus was reduced, he was not assigned a force penalty.
  A: Not true. BSW will negate the penalty from Uncertainty, because regardless of the fact that Gohei has a bonus and a penalty in equal measure, he is under the effect of something that explicitly reduces his force. BSW negates it, and Gohei has 3 force. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 13th", 13 Nov 2000
• Q: Example: Ikoma Gunjin attacks, and uses his Tactician ability for something else. He Charges, giving him 3 force. The defending player drop another Uncertainty (-2,-2). The attacking player plays a Battle of Shallow Waters. At resolution Gunjin has 1 force, because his force bonus was reduced, he was not assigned a force penalty.
  A: Hey, this is the same example as the last one! Anyways, assigning a penalty when someone has a bonus in effect is *not* the same thing as modifiying that bonus. If there is a positive effect in place that reduces someones force explicitly, then BSW will cancel it. Gunjin has 3 force. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 13th", 13 Nov 2000
• Q: Example: Utaku Kamoko (3/2) attacks. Normally, she'd be 4 force while attacking. She Charges, Destiny has no Secrets, and does a little dance. Now she's 8 force. The defending player plays In Search of the Future. The he plays an Uncertainty on her. The attacker drops a Battle of Shallow Waters. At resolution, her force is 3, because the Uncertainty here was a Force Penalty that dropped her below her printed force.
  A: Correct. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 13th", 13 Nov 2000
• Q: What happens if the Order of things is changed? What if Utaku Kamoko attacks, has 4 force, Charges, gets Uncertainty played on her, a Battle of Shallow Waters is dropped, gets Destiny has no secrets playeed on her, and then the ISotF gets played? What is her force at resolution?
  A: 3. The ISotF reduces all of her bonuses to zero, and then the BSW cancels the Uncertainty. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 13th", 13 Nov 2000
• Q: Hi there, quick question about Legacy...
  If I play Uncertainty on a personality with Chi 3 and one -1C token, it stays at 1C or it drops to 0C and dies?
  And what happens in the case that I first play Uncertainty and then give the personality a -1C token?
  I think the answer is that the personality stays at 1C and never dies, but I may be missing something...
  Thanks,
  Javier
  A: The effect from Uncertainty, preventing his Chi from going below 1, will suppress (negate) further penalties until the turn ends, even part of its own if that would drop the Personaliy's Chi below 1. So, he would not die in the scenarios you describe; he would remain at 1 Chi with further penaties suppressed (token penalties) or completely negated (half of Uncertainty's own -2). Brook Cunningham, "Uncertainty + Chi Tokens", 3 May 2010