5

During a recent game, I had a monk character use the Kiho "Stain Upon the Soul", which makes the target act as though they have a number of wound ranks filled as the attacker's Air. The opponent, while for all intents and purposes has human anatomy, only has a few wound ranks: +0, +5, +10, Dead. So if the character in question had an Air of 4, what would happen exactly? Thankfully, the character in question had a lower value so I just used the RAW and went forward but it truly made me think about situations with unconventional wound rankings. As a side note, I've been thumbing through my books and so far this is the only ability that I've seen that actually uses wound ranks instead of just the penalties of either side so I haven't seen anything comparable yet that includes a specified ruling.

For example, there's nothing I can see in Kiho, even for Atemi that says it must be a living or even human target. So what would happen to a zombie/skeleton with two wound ranks (healthy, dead)? For that matter, can Stain (or abilities like it) actually kill a being since the wound penalties beyond out are to be a dead creature? If they die, do they come back to life once the duration ends?

CatLord
  • 20,688
  • 1
  • 42
  • 90

1 Answers1

3

From Stain Upon the Soul Kiho entry, Legend of the Five Rings pg. 262

The target suffers a penalty to all TNs as if he suffered from a number of Wound Ranks equal to your Air Ring.

So the target does not actually suffer the Wound Ranks, he only suffers the TN penalties. Unconscious and Dead are not TN penalties so they aren't inflicted on the target. It further reads:

[This effect] is superseded by actual Wounds, not cumulative with them.

so there is no circumstance in which this Kiho can cause the target to reach the Dead or Unconscious rank of wound penalties.

So if the character in question had an Air of 4, what would happen exactly?

The target would suffer a +10 to it's TNs.

So what would happen to a zombie/skeleton with two wound ranks (healthy,dead)?

Nothing.

For that matter, can Stain (or abilities like it) actually kill a being since the wound penalties beyond out[?] are to be a dead creature?

No. Dead is not a TN penalty.

If they die, do they come back to life once the duration ends?

The use of this Kiho cannot kill the target.

Wesley Obenshain
  • 9,516
  • 29
  • 60
  • This does not seem to address my question in a useful format. What the clause about actual Wounds means is that if the target has any wound penalty, take the higher of the two penalties. Thus an Injured character won't be shunted into Down. However, what if you are targeting a foe that has only the following Wound ranks: Healthy (+0) and Dead. Does even the most basic Stain kill the character for having the penalties of 2 Wound Ranks? – CatLord Jun 25 '14 at 03:10
  • @CatLord I've edited my answer to make this clearer but the information was already there. The target suffers a penalty to TNs as if he suffered a number of Wound Ranks. The Wound Ranks themselves are not actually inflicted. "Dead" is not a TN penalty, therefore the target is not inflicted with the effect. You cannot kill or knock someone unconscious with use of Stain Upon the Soul. – Wesley Obenshain Jun 25 '14 at 03:28
  • Removed the -1 because that does make a lot more sense. Do you have anything about Atemi and non-humans perchance? – CatLord Jun 25 '14 at 03:38
  • I do not, but they should theoretically apply to anything with [K/Ch/Q]i paths. My instinct is that they would apply to anything but undead (perhaps with a TN adjustment on your part for non-human anatomy) but this should really be a separate question. – Wesley Obenshain Jun 25 '14 at 03:41
  • I accept your reasoning. Points are in the mail. – CatLord Jun 25 '14 at 04:01