First of all, apologies if this has been covered in detail previously. I looked in the latest rulebook PDF and in the FAQ, but must have missed it. Searching the forums has led to additional confusion.
What I'm trying to determine is what the exact rules are for applying a trait to combat check. For example, the Spectre has the following in his powers: "if the check to defeat does not have the Magic trait, the Spectre is undefeated." We were undecided on which character could best defeat this monster. And this is where the confusion comes in.
Sajan has his amulet of mighty fists. This card has the accessory, magic, and basic traits listed in the upper left corner. It also says in the powers "reveal this card to add 1d4 with the magic trait to your combat check". It's pretty obvious that this combat check is going to have the magic trait, since it plainly says so in the powers.
Harsk has a shock longbow +1. This weapon has the magic trait listed in the upper left as well. However, the powers says "for your combat check, reveal this card to roll your dexterity or ranged die plus 1d8+1", but says nothing about "with the magic trait".
Seoni has force missile, which lists Magic, arcane, attack, force, and basic traits. But in the powers it says "for your combat check, discard this card to roll your arcane die plus 2d4 with the force trait."
So, Sajan could defeat the Spectre without question. But Harsk and Seoni are unclear to me. If the traits listed on the card are applied to the attack check, then why bother spelling it out on some cards but not others? Or in the case of force missile, why list one trait but not another? Because some cards specify that it adds a trait in the powers, I was under the impression that only those cards applied that trait. In other words, only Sajan could defeat the Spectre. But if any card with the magic trait listed in the upper left could be used to defeat this bane, then why the confusion of specifying it in the powers of only some cards?
This discussion could apply to any combat check that requires a specific trait to defeat.
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Traits can be added in two ways:
1. If you play a card as part of the step Decide which die you're using when attempting a check. All the cards that say "For your combat check.." are these kinds of cards.
Determine Which Die You're Using....Some cards may allow you to replace the required skill for a check with a different one; as part of this action, you may play only 1 card or use only 1 power that defines the skill you are going to use. When you play a card that does this, add that card’s traits to the check; for example, revealing the weapon Longsword +1 for your combat check adds the Sword, Melee, Slashing, and Magic traits to the check.
2. If the card specifically tells you to add a trait to the check. For example, the spell Fire Sneeze has a power that says "Discard this card to add 1d4 with the Fire trait to a combat check using a weapon." That card would be played during the step Play cards and use power that affect the check, so none of the traits in the upper left corner get added. But you are explicitly told to add the Fire trait. So you get to do so.
So, since Force Missile is the kind of card you play to define your skill for the check, all the traits in the upper left corner get added to the check. If Harsk has a weapon that has the Magic trait which he plays for his combat check, all the traits from it get added to the check.
But it is only one of those two types. The Strength spell, for instance, is played during the "Play cards and use powers that affect the check" step. So even though it has the Magic trait, it won't add that trait to the check.
Does that make sense?
So Sajan using Amulet of Mighty Fists during "Play cards and user powers that affect the check" would have the Magic trait. Harks using Shock Longbow + 1 during "Determine which die you're using" would have the Magic trait. And Seoni using Force Missile during "Determine which die you're using" would have the Magic trait. So they are all good to go against the Spectre.
As for why some cards tell you to add the trait, even though by playing them to define the skill you are using you would have added that trait anyway, see this thread for an explanation.
And since so many monsters do require the Magic trait to be defeated, I'll take the opportunity to highlight the errata that the Warhammer +1 should have the Magic trait on it. Since playing it to define your skill would add the traits, noting that could be quite important.
Also note that cards like Crown of Charisma are played during "Play cards and use powers that affect the check" because it doesn't define your skill as diplomacy, it affects a diplomacy check. The effect is pretty awesome (letting you automatically succeed), but it isn't a "defining" kind of card. That might be important if/when someone encounters Iesha Foxglove.
Seems I've been trying to over-complicate the rules because of an unintentional over-complication of some of the cards. Per Vic's response, the cards like the spells that re-specify that it adds a trait in the powers text was more of a mistake, or a typo of sorts. I think I interpreted the rules than since Harsk's shock longbow +1 didn't have the magic trait specified in the powers, it didn't get it.
This confusion was compounded because the amulet of mighty fists specifies the magic trait in the powers text, because it doesn't determine the die used, and therefore does not automatically apply its traits to the check.
So, in review, and according to my examples above:
Amulet of Mighty Fists - The card does not specify what die to use, so its magic trait does not automatically get applied. However, since it does specify to add the magic trait within the powers text, it gets added.
Shock Longbow +1 - The card does specify what die to use, and since it has the magic trait, the magic trait is automatically applied to the check. It does not need to be specified in the powers text.
Force Missile - This card also specifies what die to use, so checks automatically get the magic and force traits since the card has those traits. The fact that the powers text also specifies that it adds the force trait is redundant, confusing, and wouldn't exist if Vic had a time machine to go back and fix it. ;-)
This clarifies my confusion. And I expect S&S will eliminate the redundant verbiage once the folks from the department of redundancy department get sacked and fired.
These can be confusing. Does Blazing Servant add the fire trait to a check? We ran into this last night needing to beat a troll. The card has the fire trait and the text states "discard this card and recharge another to add a 1D8 plus the recharged card's adventure deck number if any,to your check. You may play another spell on this check."
It doesn't as written. It probably should, but that's something for Vic to decide.