Berserker Rage

Legend of the Five Rings card from Diamond Edition, Broken Blades, Onyx Edition, Shattered Empire

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Target your opposed Berserker Personality: Set his Force equal to twice his base Force until the battle ends. The Berserker bows when the battle ends, an effect that cannot be negated, and cannot straighten before your second Straighten Phase from now.

Focus Value

1

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond), Shattered Empire, War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Or basically, the question is. Can a personality recieve a force bonus/boost after they have been targetted with Berserker Rage. For instance, can I Rage tenshu to 12, and then double him to 24 with Citadel of the Hiruma, or Frenzy him to 15 and so on and so forth.
  A: Sure. Berserker Rage's text doesn't specifically say that it prohibit's further modifications to the Berserker's force, just that the increase in force only lasts until the end of the battle, not until the otherwise normal end of turn. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for June 12th", 12 Jun 2003
• Q: I'd value people's input (and perhaps official ruling) on the following:
  When I Berserker Rage one of my berserker personalities, can they gain force bonuses afterward (i.e. Frenzy, Dead Eyes ability) or is the phrase "That Berserker's Force becomes equal to twice his or her printed Force until the battle ends" absolute?
  A: Their Force may change afterwards. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 June 2003", 3 Jun 2003
• Q: In search of the future says to lower to 0 all foce bonuses. Would the beserker with Berserker Rage be affect by in search of the future ?
  A: If Berserker Rage increased his total Force, he would. Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 March 2003", 1 Apr 2003
• Q: If you were to target a berserker with berserker rage, and set his force to double the printed - could his force later be raised by other actions such as frenzy?
  A: Yes. [GE p. 32] Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 January 2003", 28 Jan 2003
• Q: It occurred to me that I never actually asked this before. Berserker Rage says "Battle: Target one of your Berserker Personalities opposing one or more units. That Berserker's Force becomes equal to twice his or her printed Force until the battle ends. That Berserker bows when the battle ends, an effect that cannot be prevented, and may not straighten before your second Straighten Phase from now."
  Since the target's force is set equal to a specific number until the battle ends, does that mean that the target cannot receive further force bonuses and penalties during that time? Or is it just his base force that is set to that?
  A: It's a one-time, instantaneous change. Further changes may be applied afterward. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 December 2002", 11 Dec 2002
• Q: if i beserker rage utaemon, then in my next available action can i use command group on him?.
  Sure. Berserker Rage changes his current Force, so the number it changes it to is the number used by Command Group.
  Just to nitpick you Jeff, but Berserker Rage uses PRINTED force, not CURRENT force. That is a HUGE difference with Utaemon.
  A: Nitpickin' right back atcha! Berserker Rage uses printed Force as the basis of its calculation, true, but I said "changes", not "uses". Berserker Rage will change Utaemon's current Force, unless it happens to be 12 already...and because Command Group uses current Force, its effect will be different if played subsequent to the Rage. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 November 2002", 5 Nov 2002
• Q: Erk. Math analysis problem: Hida Tenshu (6F) with the 8F Celestial Sword (14F) above gets the penalty from Berserker Rage (replaced at 12F). ISOTF hits. When the Celestial Sword bonus goes away, does the Berserker Rage remain a 'penalty' and thus stay, or does it revert to a bonus and thus piffle?
  A: Good catch. It remains a penalty. Tenshu's total Force will drop from 12F to 4F because an 8F bonus is turning into a 0F bonus. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 September 2002", 25 Sep 2002
• Q: Not sure if this has been asked yet, but this came up tonight.
  Is Berserker Rage a bonus?
  A: If, and only if, it increases the total current Force of the Personality. [p. 31] If Hida Tenshu Frenzies, then Berserker Rages, it's a bonus (9F -> 12F). If he Berserker Rages while holding an 8F Celestial Sword, it's not (14F -> 12F). Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 September 2002", 21 Sep 2002
• Q: Can I use Berserker Rage on a berserker peep with Tachi attached?
  A: It's always legal to play it. It just won't do anything if his current Force is less than twice his printed Force. Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 September 2002", 21 Sep 2002