There is a problem with the Ammunition cards in the Gunslinger class deck.
The powers for Ammunition cards always start with this line:
Display this card; you may not play this card during an encounter.
The card then has a power like this:
While displayed, when you play a weapon that has the Firearm trait, if you would bury or shuffle it into your deck, you may instead keep it and perform the required action with this card.
The problem is:
Choosing to activate a power on a displayed card also counts as playing it.
Which means Ammunition cannot be used, in any way, during an encounter.
Noted. We'll get back to you on this.
Choosing to activate a power on a displayed card also counts as playing it.
I'm interpreting cards such as Blizzard and Corrosive Storm to still allow a character to play a spell during their combat check because Blizzard and like state that you're to add dice to the check; there's no "you may" part of the text. Is this correct?
I think this could be spelled out more clearly in the rules, but on the forum displayed cards that add dice to future checks, or a bonus to future checks, have not been considered to be "activated" by such use.
Chief Technical Officer
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Choosing to activate a power on a displayed card also counts as playing it.I'm interpreting cards such as Blizzard and Corrosive Storm to still allow a character to play a spell during their combat check because Blizzard and like state that you're to add dice to the check; there's no "you may" part of the text. Is this correct?
Yes.
I think this could be spelled out more clearly in the rules, but on the forum displayed cards that add dice to future checks, or a bonus to future checks, have not been considered to be "activated" by such use.
The MM rules have clarified this, but the distinction has nothing to do with what the powers do (i.e. adding dice or bonuses to future checks). Let's go ahead and use Xexyz's examples to explain this.
The rules for Playing Cards now includes this:
Playing a card means using a power on that card by performing an action with that card that is specified by the card itself (see Boons, page 23). Choosing to activate a power on a displayed card also counts as playing it.
Also, see the end of the sidebar Rules: Active and Optional Powers:
Powers on cards on the table—including story cards, character cards,
and displayed cards—are active whenever they are appropriate.
Playing cards from your hand is always optional. Active powers on
all other cards are only optional if they say “you may” do something.
Citing Blizzard and Corrosive Storm as examples is complicated slightly by the fact that wordings on those cards are out of date—displayed cards now use the phrase "while displayed" to tell you exactly what powers are happening when, so I'll quote the Pathfinder Adventures wordings of those cards:
Blizzard: Display this card when a character encounters a monster. While displayed, add 2d6 and the Cold trait to combat checks to defeat monsters. At the end of the turn, each other character is dealt 1 Cold damage, and if you do not have the Arcane skill, banish this card; otherwise, discard it, or you may succeed at an Arcane 14 check to recharge it instead.
Corrosive Storm: Display this card when a character encounters a monster. While displayed, add 2d6 and the Acid trait to combat checks to defeat monsters. At the end of the turn, each other character is dealt 1 Acid damage, and if you do not have the Arcane skill, banish this card; otherwise, discard it, or you may succeed at an Arcane 14 check to recharge it instead.
Since neither of the "while displayed" powers say "you may," they are not optional and they are active whenever they are appropriate. Since you are not performing an action with that card that is specified by the card itself, and you are not choosing to activate a power on it, you are not playing it, so you can benefit from the "while displayed" power and still play a spell.
On the other hand, consider the Wrath spell Fire Shield: "Display this card. While displayed, you may add 1d8 and the Fire or Cold trait to a combat check attempted by a character at your location." Choosing to activate that power *does* count as playing it, so you can't do that and play another spell.