Definitive List of Rules Team rulings

[Fencerjared]

With the recent ruling in the Morsbane thread, and after some searching and perusing, I've realized we don't quite have a thread like this. This is for the Rules Team verdicts that exist only on our forums, not in the Official FAQs.

That said, the most recent Official FAQs are a good place for any person visiting this thread to start: FAQ 13.4

This thread is a good listing of rules that people constantly misunderstand or misapply: The Top 11 Most Frequently Overlooked (yet [ab]used) Rules

This thread is also a good place to look for information; it was locked and stopped being edited quite a while ago, but is still useful:
Rules questions to Hasbro

The old Rules Team thread is also locked and hasn't been updated lately, but also has good information: Rules Team Thread


Effects of Negation on powers with a set duration:

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Negation is from that point forward and the way it is worded in SOTM rule book is the way it works for Morsbane too.

However, any power that has "for the entire game", or "the rest of the game", or "until the end of the round", or "next marker" or whatever - if the requirements were met to trigger that power, negation will not undo that occurrence of it's use. It will stop any further activation of it, but if they got it in prior to the negation, that activation of the power will stay intact until the condition(s) that end it are met.

So if Estivara successfully triggered Cloud and then was negated, that successful occurrence of Cloud would stay in affect until the end conditions are met. Gladiators will stay inspired until the end of the round. Siege and Scarcarver keep their "X" power active if they triggered it before negation and Negation will not undo Disciplined Influence.

Further information for checking what happens to power affected by Negation that are currently in effect:

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Ice Cold is a perpetual ability that is always on, like Raelin's aura. The difference between Cloud of Darkness and Ice Cold is that, Ice Cold is not triggered. It is not rolled for, it does not require a marker, it does not have any game mechanics that turns it off or on; it is always on. And as such, as soon as the power is negated, its affects are gone.

The other powers are triggered as part of the power; those powers once triggered remain until the end conditions are met. Estivara’s Cloud of Darkness is not perpetual; it is not always on. You have to take a turn, roll the number and stay on the space. It also has a point in time when the power is no longer active.

The GIE's Ice Cold power is always on, even if GIE was not standing on ice or water, Ice Cold is still "on"; the GIE just isn’t standing in a place where the affects are realized. (Raelin’s aura does not cease to exist just because there are no figures you control within her Aura. The Aura is still there, just the game situation does not yield its affects) Because Ice Cold is a perpetual and continual condition, the condition is checked at all times. It is not triggered when he moves onto water or ice; NO, it’s affects are just realized when he moves unto the proper terrain. Because there is no end and no begin to what triggers the power, as soon as the power is negated the affects of it cease.

There is more I want to get into here, some of which is probably more than I should say.

1) The rules team pretty much doesn’t exist anymore. Our resources have been stripped from us. We no longer have access to the information and discussions that took place in the distant or recent past; nor do we have access to the checklists that were used with each power/unit or the resulting conversations. All of the others guys have moved on and they do not feel lead to concern themselves with the extraneous situations that come up. Sorry, I am the only one fool enough to try to indulge you guys.

2) Rod of Negation was an entry on the Check List for every power and unit that was made. This isn’t a "ruling"; it is how it worked. We were told to look at in terms of if the power had triggers or if it was perpetual. In the case of powers that triggered and had a specified duration, Negation stops any further occurrence. For perpetual, always on powers, we were told to consider them immediately disabled.

3) You have the information; it is your choice to play it however you feel is right for you and your play group. If you are attending an event, consult you EO. There is no official answer for anything anymore. The FAQ will not ever be revised in an “official” capacity. Take what I say with a grain of salt and just understand that I am giving you the information (at my risk) as it pertains to how we worked to test and check units and powers. If you do not agree with what we did nor our interpretations, that is entirely your prerogative. There is no longer any official word to be had on any of this.

Glyph of Nilrend use on figures not yet on the board:

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Fencerjared

This came up in a game the other day, so I asked the rules team and got a pretty prompt response even with all the other site issues they were dealing with:

Powers that require wounds to be inflicted to activate, versus powers that ignore wounds; also, ability of squad figures sustain multiple wounds is kinda answered:

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Grungebob

Wosoga needs to inflict 2 wounds to activate coil crush. It only takes one wound to destroy a Microcorps. No coil crush. If stealth suit is the issue you are asking about.. well it causes the wounds to be ignored, no coil crush.

And here is Rÿchean with clarification on why the particular wording for Stealth Armor (and similar powers, such as Sacred Band Defy Death) was chosen:

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

The reason the Microcrop cards is worded that way is to make it clear that stealth armor is only rolled one time regardless of how many wounds could possibly be inflicted.

In other words, if it simply said "when a microcorp agent receives a wound," then the question of the remaining wounds would come up. Do they roll StealthArmor for the wounds over and above the killing wound?

It was to try to make it clear that regardless of how many wounds could be potentially inflicted, a successful Stealth Armor would ignore all of them.

Conversely the card could not simply say ignore the attack, because then the question would be since the attack is ignored does the attacker get it back.

How to Lob a grenade:

Spoiler Alert!

Originally Posted by Grungebob

Ok guys here it is:


Grenades 101

How to conduct the Lob
It has become painfully apparent that there are questions concerning Lob that cannot be answered easily. After much discussion and shifting position we realize that there cannot be a ruling on Lob without defining one concept that is unique to Lob, and that is “clear area”. Below is a walk through of the Grenade Lob procedure with an explanation that should clear away a lot of the ambiguities of Lob.

The steps
So you’re playing the game and you decide you want to use one of your Airborne Elite to Lob a Grenade at a figure.

1. Remove the Grenade Marker

2. See if the target figure is within Range
Count the hex spaces from the Airborne Elite to the target by using the most direct route, and ignoring any terrain (including overhangs) or obstacles of any kind. Just count the spaces (note that a figure directly above or below the Airborne would be considered at a range of 1 for this purpose). If the figure is within a range of 5 spaces, you may continue to step 3.

3. Check LOS

• If the Airborne Elite can see the target, and the target is not directly above or below the Airborne Elite, continue to step 4.
• If the Airborne Elite can see the target, and the target is directly above or below, but no more than 12 levels higher than the Airborne Elite's base, continue to step 5.
• If the Airborne Elite cannot see the target because of intervening objects or terrain that are more than 12 levels higher than the Airborne Elite’s base, stop here. He cannot Lob to that target, otherwise continue to step 4.

4. Calculate your Clear Area
Clear Area is the path that the grenade must take to actually reach it’s target. To calculate Clear Area, count the spaces the grenade must travel to reach the target using the same method you would use to count the movement of a figure that has the Flying ability. If, in order to reach the target, the grenade passes onto any space that is higher than 12 levels above the Airborne Elite’s base, or if the amount of spaces traveled by the grenade is more than the spaces counted for Range in step 2, then there can be no Lob, otherwise continue to step 5.

5. Success!
If you've made it this far, then all of the above criteria have been met, the Lob is a go, and you may roll attack dice and continue to resolve the attack as usual.

Please update me on any rulings not in the FAQ you guys can think of, I'll update this post, and we can make this a true Definitive List thread!

[Mr Migraine]

There was that one thread involving the easily-abused mechanics of a grenade lob.

[cavebehr]

I think this is a great thread, kudos to you. I believe you should add a link to the frequently overlooked and ab(use)d rules, if I wrote that right, also further on in the morsbane thread Rÿchean also wrote more on how the original rules team came up with how the negation works for two distinct styles of all the powers of others in the game.

Great job so far though.

[Fencerjared]

Originally Posted by Mr Migraine

There was that one thread involving the easily-abused mechanics of a grenade lob.

Thanks. Took a little bit of searching, but I found the relevant ruling.

[dok]

Great idea for a thread, Jared.

I would clean up a bit of the side-comments from those quotes. You can get rid of the "nobody pinged anyone" at the top of Rÿchean's recent post, as well as everything after "There is more I want to get into here" in the second quote. Just pare it down to the relevant rulings in each case.

Again, thanks for doing this, and good luck collecting all of these.

Off the top of my head, I think there was a ruling about Wyverns and whether they can dive into lava or not. I'm pretty sure Mattsertruckrally started the thread, which should make it easy to find since he doesn't start many threads.

[BurnyFlame]

Despite all the work put into it, I am going to have to disagree that this is a useful thread. The "Rules Team rulings" on this forum have no weight in the real game. For that matter, the designers of the game should not be the same people who interpret the rules. It is akin to Congress and the Supreme Court being the same entity.

People should play by the most logical and consistent rules, regardless of who says it is right. If properly justified, everyone's interpretations are equally valid. I would prefer a thread which treated both sides of rulings in a "pro/con" format, and let the reader decide for him/herself.

[Fencerjared]

Originally Posted by dok

Great idea for a thread, Jared.

I would clean up a bit of the side-comments from those quotes. You can get rid of the "nobody pinged anyone" at the top of Rÿchean's recent post, as well as everything after "There is more I want to get into here" in the second quote. Just pare it down to the relevant rulings in each case.

Again, thanks for doing this, and good luck collecting all of these.

Off the top of my head, I think there was a ruling about Wyverns and whether they can dive into lava or not. I'm pretty sure Mattsertruckrally started the thread, which should make it easy to find since he doesn't start many threads.

I believe I found the thread you were talking about, dok, but I can't find a ruling in that thread. The discussion went on, and the Rules Team posted that they were considering a ruling, then more discussion, then nothing. They didn't post the relevant ruling in the Rules Team thread. I'm still looking, but do you have any other leads as to where the verdict might be posted?