Playing Strength

[kidray666]

It seems from other threads that you may play Strength during a check, but may you play it on a character at another location during their turn? For example, Valeros is facing a tough combat check and Kyra wants to play Strength on him, but is somewhere else...
Card reads : Display the card and select a character. For the rest of the turn, add 3 to that character's checks that use her Strength die. Discard the card at the end of your turn.
Does not specify AT your location or not, but seems difficult to imagine flinging if from the woods to the goblin fortress :)

[csouth154]

If it doesn't say anything about a location restriction, then there isn't one. This applies for ALL cards.

[Hawkmoon269]

As csouth said, Strength can be played on anyone at any location (yourself included, since you are also "a character"). You can play it at any time during a turn, but if you play it during a check, it has to be a strength check.

Lots of cards might be hard to visualize how they work. Don't get hung up on that.

Rulebook v3 22 wrote:

Allow for Abstractions. Sometimes the story you imagine can get in the way of playing the game. Despite their aquatic nature, Bunyips can be encountered in the General Store. Caltrops work against Ancient Skeletons, even if they don’t have flesh on their feet. Harsk can fire a Heavy Crossbow from the Mountain Peak into the Deeper Dungeons. Don’t force the cards to fit your story; let the cards tell you their stories.

So don't try to figure out how the cards would work if they were a real life situation. They are just cards. Enjoy them.

[Doug Maynard]

Resurrecting another old-ish thread...

So this card makes me wonder, when it says "add 3 to that character's checks that use his Strength die," that means the +3 only applies when using the Strength skill but not more specific skills based on Strength like Melee, correct? I think I'm not 100% clear whether a power that refers to a "XX die" refers to the XX basic skill that everyone has only, or also includes any, more specific skills based upon that XX basic skill.

[Hawkmoon269]

It would apply to Melee too if Melee was based on Strength (i.e. Valeros or Amiri). Those character's Melee skill uses their Strength die. So you are still using their Strength die.

Each skill consists of a die, and modifiers. Some modifiers are skill bonuses (Valeros' +3 in Melee). Some are skill feats (if Valeros puts a +1 skill feat into his Strength.) When a character's skill refers to another one of their skills, it uses that referenced skill's die and modifiers. So if Valeros has a skill feat in Strength, when he uses his Melee, he's rolling his d10 Strength die and is allowed to add him Strength modifier (the +1 skill feat) since he adds that whenever he uses his Strength die. He also gets to add his +3 Melee because he uses his Melee die (which happens to be his Strength die).

So if someone played Strength on Valeros, he would get the +3 from the spell when using his Melee.

I hope that helps.

[Andrew K]

For that same reason, you could play a Blessing of Gorum to add 2 dice to Valeros' Melee Combat check, or Iomadae for 2 dice to Seoni's Diplomacy check.

[Doug Maynard]

That definitely helps - I was playing conservatively, it turns out, but it does make sense because you are using the basic die and modifying it for those special skills.

With me playing Lini and Amiri, Strength is really nice then, because Lini can play it on Amiri and she gets minimum +5 to Melee (+2 for her base Melee skill bonus and +3 from Strength).

All these rules clarifications while I'm playing solo now will be so useful not just now but especially when I start running organized play at my FLGS in August, so thanks as always for your help.

[Chad Brown]

You don't need to be at the same location to play Strength or Speed. We tried that restriction early on, and it just wasn't much fun, so we changed it. Sometimes we bend the edges of the RPG guidelines to make the game more fun, and sometimes we use creative explantations.

If you prefer to have RPG-compatible explanations, in this case just assume that the duration of Strength was enough for one of you to duck over, cast the spell, and then duck back before anyone noticed.

[strigoi73]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I thought it would be better to ask this here than to create another thread.

I have been playing strength as though you should discard/recharge it at the end of the turn you played it in. But the last sentence reads "Discard this card at the end of your turn.". So the card's power only lasts until the end of the current turn, but it remains displayed until the end of the character's turn who actually cast the spell. Is this correct?

[Hawkmoon269]

I'm pretty sure every copy of Strength I've seen says "at the end of the turn" and not "at the end of your turn" but I could be wrong (and I definitely haven't closely read every card published). Which source (class deck, RotR, etc) are you getting the card from?

[strigoi73]

From the character add on deck. I found a strength spell from the base set and it does say at the end of THE turn. However, the add on deck says at the end of YOUR turn. I have never noticed that discrepancy before.

[cosined]

That's interesting.

Errata'd version of the card should clear up the discrepancy, regardless.

[strigoi73]

That clears it up, cosined. Thanks!

[Hawkmoon269]

I'm still a bit curious here. So, you must be talking Rise of the Runelords, since that is the only place Strength appears in both C deck. Do you have a second printing? I have a first printing and it is the pre-errata text, so it doesn't even say to display it and then wait to discard it at the end of the turn.

[Vic Wertz]

The RotR first printing Strength doesn't use display at all. The second printing does, and the version in the B deck correctly discards at the end of "the" turn, while the version in the C deck inexplicably discards at the end of "your" turn.