Normally, you can only use your powers once per check/step, but do powers separated by OR count as separate powers or as the same power?
As an example, Zetha from the Summoner CD has the following power:
You may banish a monster from your hand to ... use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check ... (□ OR to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier).
In this case, the question would be if Zetha can banish 2 monsters to use her stealth skill against a barrier and also add 1d6, using both clauses once.
My feeling is no, but that would make the second part of the power very situational... using your stealth skill will most likely be better than adding 1d6 to a non-stealth skill, since using Stealth itself gives a guaranteed +3 over Dexterity, and is most likely better than any other check encountered by a barrier (even Arcane if you focus Dexterity).
Chief Technical Officer
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Zetha says:
You may banish a monster from your hand to evade your encounter or to use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check (□ or, if you’re not in an encounter, to move) (□ or to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier).
This is equivalent to:
• You may banish a monster from your hand to evade your encounter.
• You may banish a monster from your hand to use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check.
• □ If you’re not in an encounter, you may banish a monster from your hand to move.
• □ You may banish a monster from your hand to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier.
Thanks a lot!
This is equivalent to:
• You may banish a monster from your hand to evade your encounter.
• You may banish a monster from your hand to use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check.
• □ If you’re not in an encounter, you may banish a monster from your hand to move.
• □ You may banish a monster from your hand to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier.
Huh. So those are 4 separate powers? I'll have to keep an eye out for these tricky ORs.
To ask the native speakers then - if I have a power that says:
"Recharge a card to add 1d6 to your combat check OR to your check to defeat a barrier" - would that mean I can add 2d6 on a combat check against a barrier?
It's an exclusive "or," so you can recharge a card to either:
- add 1d6 to your combat check
OR
- add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier.
So, no, you don't get to add 2d6 on a combat check against a barrier.
How does Longshot's scenario differ from Zetha's?
Grammatically, both follow the same template:
Do X to do Y or Z.
According to Vic, that is equivalent to
Do X to do Y.
Do X to do Z.
in the first scenario, and by consistency should also apply to the second scenario. Consequently, Longshot should be able to recharge two cards to add 2d6 to a combat check against a barrier.
My answer was in response to the inferred premise that one card was being recharged.
As for whether or not the (hypothetical?) power that Longshot11 provided allows for two cards to be recharged, each for a different effect of the power, I'm not sure. My opinion is that any power can only be activated once at that particular moment in time. If the effects were listed as two separate powers, each could be activated at the same time. I'm not at all certain that I'm correct in this, though (I'm not even certain if my previous answer is correct, mind you - it's just my opinion).
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Chief Technical Officer
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When I said "equivalent to," I did not mean that you could literally break it into four separate powers—I was just illustrating how the grammar breaks out. It's still one power, so you can only use it once per check or step as usual.
Maybe it would have been more accurate (but a bit harder to read) if I had said that it's equivalent to this:
You may banish a monster from your hand to evade your encounter OR you may banish a monster from your hand to use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check □ OR If you’re not in an encounter, you may banish a monster from your hand to move □ OR You may banish a monster from your hand to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier.
So Longshot11's power would be equivalent to "Recharge a card to add 1d6 to your combat check OR recharge a card to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier."
Ah, looks like we are on the same page again.
In hindsight, my original post was worded quite badly, so sorry for the miscommunication on my part - I just wanted to know if the OR breaks powers down into multiple different powers with regards to being usable on the same check or step. It's very clear that this is not the case now, which clarifies the issue. Thanks!