Written in Blood

Legend of the Five Rings card from Lotus Edition, An Oni's Fury, Diamond Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Kiho, Maho

Card Text

Battle/Open: Bow your performing Monk or Shugenja and target a Personality: Lose 3 Honor. Give the Personality -1C, or -2C if he is in an army.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Written in Blood 0G 2FV Kiho Maho Open: Shugenja or Monk you control: Target a Personality. Lose 3 Honor. Give the Personality –1C, or –2C if he is in an army." [MRP, Lotus Edition, 31 October 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 60
• Erratum: Written in Blood should be a Kiho. [errata] Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, May 21, 2003, p. 15

Rules Q&A

• Q: OK, in November, I asked about Ogedei being affected by -X Chi tokens. But, people are disputing about other ways of Chi death. By his trait, is he immune from someone else using Written In Blood, Daigotsu Dojo, Shukumei, or any other current card that just creates a non-token Chi reduction?
  A: Written in Blood, Daigotsu Dojo, and Shukumei are all cards. Their effects can't reduce Moto Ogedei's Chi if they are owned by a player other than Ogedei's controller, as per his card text: "Ogedei's Chi may no be reduced by effects from cards other players own." Martin Lund, "Rules for 12 December 2004", 15 Dec 2004
• Q: For instance, I have a Shi-Tien Yen-Wang Temple in play. On his turn, my opponent plays a Written in Blood targeting a 2C personality. react by using the Temple, giving the personality +1C until the end of turn. If both effects end at the same time, my personality won't die from having 0C at the end of the turn. But if they disappear separately, my opponent could choose to have the effects of the Temple ending first and thus killing my personality.
  A: Typically, simultaneous expiration of bonuses and penalties does not cause any conflicts. You do not have a "timing conflict" just because doing things sequentially in one order would cause a person to die of Chi-Death. All bonuses and penalties in this example expire at the same time and the Personality lives. No player gets any say in the matter. Martin Lund, "Rules for 8 September 2004", 10 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: "Chagatai is not destroyed for having 0 Chi unless his Chi is 0 after all penalties that last until your turn ends wear off."
  If my opponent is playing Unicorn, and I use a pair of "Written in Blood" kihos on Chagatai during my own Action Phase, does he die immediately? That -4C lasts until the end of *my* turn. Technically, there are no Chi penalties in effect that last until the end of *your* turn (referring to the owner of Chagatai).
  Thanks!
  - Brewing Tea
  A: When cards refer to "you" they mean their controller in almost all cases. I don't see why Chagatai is any exception. Going by what is on the card, he'll only stay around if there is an effect that reduces his Chi which ends at the end of his controller's turn. Martin Lund, "Rules for 8 April 2004", 11 Apr 2004
• Q: If I cast Written in Blood on a base 2 Chi personality with a Clan Sword, and then play Iaijutsu Lesson targeting them (and they accept, volutarily or otherwise) do they instantly die for being 0 Chi?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 March 2004", 26 Mar 2004
• Q: Is Written in Blood a Kiho? It's got the Kiho border, and it says to bow a shugenja, but it doesn't actually _say_ Kiho.
  A: It's a Kiho. Consider this errata. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 December 2001", 14 Dec 2001
• Q: Let's say that my opponent reduces Tokaro's chi with Written in Blood and he dies. I now have no one on the boards. I declare a Raid battle, pay 2 gold, and play Ancient Battlefield. Does this work?
  In my support:
  In the case of Strategic Crossroad it was ruled that you couldn't because it would create an action that would create presence, but didn't in and of itself. In the case of Ancient Battlefield the terrain itself will create presence when it resolves.
  A: See Archive, Ancient Battlefield. Zen Faulkes, "Ancient Battlefield + Presence/Relevence", 31 Mar 2005