The Book of Shiori (AoA)

[Strack9]

Originally Posted by Grison

Can you help me understand this ruling? The reasoning stated in the answer is that an opponent whose base was 6 spaces higher "would not be adjacent" to Shiori.

That is true, but the power text does not require Shiori to be adjacent to the attacked figure before being placed; it only requires that she be placed on a space that is adjacent to the figure, and that the space must also meet the specified criteria (no more than 6 spaces higher, etc.). From my reading of the text, whether she is adjacent to the figure to begin with is not relevant.

Stated another way, "an empty space that is not more than 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori's base" could well be adjacent to a figure that is not initially adjacent to Shiori. In fact, it seems the target figure could be even higher (or lower) than 6 spaces, so long as the space Shiori is placed on meets the 6-level limit and Shiori is placed adjacent to the target (not adjacent to Shiori's original location).

Am I misreading this?

I came up with that clarification while I was writing the Book. I tried to anticipate questions that may come up, and their answers. I hope I didn't make a mistake.

My understanding is that in terms of rules language, "spaces" are not defined as "adjacent", only figures can be "adjacent". Therefore when the Special Attack reads "choose an opponent's figure within 2 clear sight spaces of Shiori and place Shiori on an empty space adjacent to that figure that is not more than 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori's base.", "adjacent" is referring to Shiori.

In other words Shiori should be adjacent, not the empty space.

If she does choose a space where she would be adjacent, it would be by necessity no more than 4 spaces below the base of her opponent. If she chooses a space where her base would be 5 or 6 spaces lower than her target's, she wouldn't be adjacent once placed there (since her height is 5) and thus wouldn't meet the requirement of the SA to be placed there.

Maybe I'm the one who's reading it wrong and she could be placed there. But even if I am, once she was placed she wouldn't be able to make an attack, because the range of the SA is 1 and can only be used against a figure with which she is engaged.

[Grison]

Here's the scenario I'm picturing:

1. Let's say that Shiori's base is on level zero (for easy math).
2. She is 2 clear sight spaces from a target whose base is on level 10.
3. At this point, she is definitely not adjacent to the target.
4. Per her Special Attack, she places herself on an intervening space - one that is adjacent to the target and on level 6 (no more than 6 levels above her own base).
5. Once Shiori is placed in this new position, the target is adjacent to and engaged with Shiori, as the target's base is only 4 levels higher than her new position (and thus within her height).
6. She then attacks the target with her Special Attack.

I think this works with the card text as written, but I welcome feedback if I'm incorrect.

Basically, my read is that the "no more than 6 levels higher" phrase refers to the relative position of the space she is placed on, rather than referring to the relative position of the target. I agree that once placed she must be adjacent to the target, but that is achievable even if the target is more than 6 levels higher than her starting point -- so long as an appropriate intervening space exists.

[Strack9]

I see what you're saying, basically that 6 spaces above or below is comparing Shiori's starting and landing positions rather than her landing position compared with her target's position.

I did read the text as comparing the latter rather than the former.

Does anyone else read it that way? if so I'll remove the ruling. or perhaps modify it to clarify what it does mean.

[ThrasherDarkrai]

I agree emphatically with Grison's interpretation. The notion that the phrase "not more than 6 spaces above or below Shiori's base" refers to the targeted figure rather than the space Shiori moves to simply doesn't make any grammatical sense; placed in context, the phrase pretty clearly refers to the space Shiori is moving to, and is pretty clearly comparing her initial and landing positions (because of the "Shiori's base" clause). As such, the card does seem to read that the opposing figure itself could be 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori so long as she can engage them on an intervening space. To be somewhat churlish, I think it's also somewhat offputting that the ruling in the Book isn't actually an official ruling; but that might just be me.

[SkyWhale]

I also agree that it's probably best to leave out rulings until there are actual official ones.

[Strack9]

I apologize for my presumption. The offending clarification has been removed.

[Grison]

The power text in this case does require a fairly careful reading, so I appreciate the opportunity for discussion. I wish they would have reordered the phrase or broken it up a bit as follows:

Official Text

...Before each attack, you must choose an opponent's figure within 2 clear sight spaces of Shiori and place Shiori on an empty space adjacent to that figure that is not more than 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori's base...

Suggested Text
(changes underlined)

Reordered version:

...Before each attack, you must choose an opponent's figure within 2 clear sight spaces of Shiori and place Shiori adjacent to that figure on an empty space that is not more than 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori's base...

Broken up version:

...Before each attack, you must choose an opponent's figure within 2 clear sight spaces of Shiori and place Shiori on an empty space adjacent to that figure. This space must be no more than 6 spaces higher or lower than Shiori's base...

Other Thoughts
There's definitely a lot going on with this power. I'm just now realizing that Shiori could even be placed on a space up to 3 spaces away from her starting position (on the opposite side of a figure within 2 clear sight spaces). Over the course of three attacks, she can potentially cover a lot of ground during this attack sequence.

[Sherman Davies]

Originally Posted by ThrasherDarkrai

I think it's also somewhat offputting that the ruling in the Book isn't actually an official ruling; but that might just be me.

It's not just you. I was also puzzled to see that R&C given that I knew it couldn't be from an official source, not to mention it provided the correct answer through incorrect reasoning.

Originally Posted by ThrasherDarkrai

Just_A_Bill mentioned this in the "Heroscape is Coming Back!" thread, but there are a lot of things odd about Shiori's sculpt. It seems to have no mechanical relationship to the card (a Mirror Image power of some kind would have made more sense) and creates a weird situation where seeing the two "clones" doesn't enable you to shoot Shiori, but Raelin seeing the two "clones" does enable her to grant a defense buff. He nailed it on the head when he said that it seemed like something Avalon Hill - and now Renegade - went with because it looked cool, not because it makes sense with her mechanical design.

Yup, it makes for a kewl and dynamic sculpt, but it's problematic thematically and gameplay-wise. She's not meant to actually be in three places at once, but when it comes to being targeted by Braxas' Acid Breath, Atlaga's Bolt of Witherwood, or any other offensive power that targets using clear sight, she may as well be. She's basically more vulnerable to such powers for no other reason than to be an aberration from all other Heroscape sculpts.

[Tornado]

With a great sculpt, comes great vulnerability.

[Robotech Master]

Weird sculpt interactions is why I'm not really a fan of TLOS.