I think csouth is right and wrong. The answer is yes, but for a different reason than he said. I'll get on my laptop and make a longer post with my reasoning.
A check with the ranged trait is not necessarily a ranged check.
Take for example, if Lem is using a Diplomacy check (Charisma +2 or something) and he uses the Glibness spell. If I have an ally that can give me a bonus on an Arcane check, I can't use it on this check.
The reason the Black Arrow Ranger works for Merisiel/Harsk using a bow attack is because the bow says that for your combat check you use your Dexterity or Ranged check plus ___. So no matter which check you're making (dexterity combat check or ranged combat check), the Black Arrow ranger can apply because it can be used on either of those checks.
No, if something has a particular trait, then it has that trait. An attack with a +1 flaming mace is a strength combat check or a melee strength combat check with the mace, melee, bludgeoning, and magic traits (and sometimes fire). That does not make it a magic check, a bludgeoning check, a fire check, or a mace check. It is a strength/melee combat check with those traits.
The reason you can use the Black Arrow Ranger on a Dexterity Combat Check with Merisiel is solely because the Black Arrow Ranger can be used on a Dexterity check. If it could only be used on a Ranged check, Merisiel couldn't use it.
Take for example, if Lem is using a Diplomacy check (Charisma +2 or something) and he uses the Glibness spell. If I have an ally that can give me a bonus on an Arcane check, I can't use it on this check. .This statement leads me to believe that you think ALL cards played during a check add their traits to the check. This is not the case. Only the card that determines the die, if one is played, grants its traits.
Sorry, I gave a bad example. There's not a good example, however, since I'm trying to give an example of something that doesn't exist. Adding traits is not the same as changing the type of check that is being made (although the two tend to go somewhat together, due to the rule on page 11).
Really? I was going off the quote from the OP, which says
Recharge this card to add 1d6+1 to your Perception, Dexterity, or Ranged Check
That has Dexterity listed. If he is mis-quoting the card, this discussion is pointless.
Playing a card with the ranged trait to determine which die you are using does indeed make it a ranged check See this thread about melee, but the same would hold true for ranged.
And while the Black Arrow Ranger does add to both dexterity and ranged checks, thus making it a moot point for Harsk, it does matter for Valeros's Weapon Matter role since he can play ranged weapons with out using his dexterity die.
Okay, I think we're on the same page now. We both misread different things.
BAR can be used on a bow check for two reasons. One because it can be used on Dexterity checks. Two because it can be used on ranged checks. A dexterity based combat check with the ranged trait counts as a ranged check.
However, it's not a "ranged check." You're making a combat check. It just happens to have the ranged trait because of the bow.
Agreed?
Just FYI: This comment by Mike really helps clear some of this up:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q7lz?Concerning-the-FAQ-a-ruling-on-traits-and #10
While it uses the term "Ranged combat check" the same idea would hold true for the "Ranged check". There is really no theoretical limit on what kind of checks could exists. An "acrobatics combat check" is theoretically possible. Its just that Ranged Melee trip people up because they are also a skill. But that is no different the Divine or Arcane, which are also traits. So the Black Arrow Ranger is to Ranged checks as Acolyte is to Arcane/Divine checks. A check can become an "X check" either from the traits or the skills.
Okay, not to muddy the waters but let me present a scenario to see if I understand this correctly.
We have Valeros and Harsk. They are at separate locations.
Valeros encounters a skeleton and is preparing a melee combat check. In his hand, he has a Black Arrow Ranger. Because he is not making a ranged or dexterity combat check, he cannot play the BAR.
However, because Harsk is proficient, Harsk uses a crossbow to add 1d4+whatever to Valeros's combat check. (This is not his recharge skill, just him discarding the crossbow to add the die to the distant combat check.)
Because the crossbow has the ranged trait, Valeros's combat check now has the ranged trait also. Due to this, Valeros may play the BAR to add 1d6+1 to his original combat check.
Correct?
Okay, not to muddy the waters but let me present a scenario to see if I understand this correctly.
We have Valeros and Harsk. They are at separate locations.
Valeros encounters a skeleton and is preparing a melee combat check. In his hand, he has a Black Arrow Ranger. Because he is not making a ranged or dexterity combat check, he cannot play the BAR.
However, because he is proficient, Harsk uses a crossbow to add 1d4+whatever to Valeros's combat check. (This is not his recharge skill, just him discarding the crossbow to add the die to the distant combat check.)
Because the crossbow has the ranged trait, Valeros's combat check now has the ranged trait also. Due to this, Valeros may play the BAR to add 1d6+1 to his original combat check.
Correct?
No. Using the crossbow does not supply any traits to the check, for the same reason that playing Guidance does not grant a check the magic trait. Powers only add traits to a check if they modify the check (look for the words, "for your _ check..." like the crossbows first power) or if they specifically say so (like Fiery Weapon).
Please note that if I'm remembering wrong and the crossbow says "...with the ranged trait to a combat..." then you are indeed correct.
. Powers only add traits to a check if they modify the checkMinor correction: The card that determines the die, if one is played at all, is the only card the grants its traits to the check automatically. All cards played during check technically modify it, but only one can determine the die.
That's what I meant, but thanks for correcting my verbage.
. Powers only add traits to a check if they modify the check
Harsk's use of the crossbow is modifying the check. (The original check is a melee 1d10+3. Harks's crossbow use makes it 1d10+3+1d4+x.) I'm not sure if you aren't being clear or if there's something more to the distinction, but that doesn't seem to be enough explanation.
Having said that, in this scenario, I can see that Harks's addition isn't actually modifying the base die--the check is still a melee combat check and therefore can't be played as a ranged check. However, Harks's crossbow card adds the ranged trait to the check. So, it's a melee combat check with the ranged trait. (And also the bow, piercing, 2-handed and elite traits.)
Having the trait isn't enough to play the BAR, but Harsk's action is enough to have other possible effects. In the original example, the monster is a skeleton. The attack now has the piercing trait because of Harsk. This increases the Check to Defeat value by 3. (Someone other than Harsk could be making things worse, not better, by their crossbow "assistance.")
Or is that wrong?
Cards don't grant traits unless they are used on YOUR check to determine the base die, though, unless it says so on the card.
Yeah, I'm definitely wrong. Traits only come from the card played by the originating character. Cards played by other players do not (usually) add traits. Period. The distinction here is found in the three different steps of the "Attempt a Check" process.
Step one defines the die used AND the traits based on the original card, skill or power used to make the check.
Step two determines the difficulty.
Step three determines how the check is modified, either by the original player or by other players, but NONE of those cards add traits.
Of course, there is an exception to Step three's "don't add traits." If the power specifically says to add a trait, you add it. So, Kyra's power that adds 1d8 and the Magic trait to checks against undead banes does indeed add the trait. But Harsk, using the power on his crossbow to aid another's combat, does not add the ranged (or other) traits because it doesn't specifically say to add them. (It does just as it says: "add 1d4 to a combat check at another location." That's it.)
By the way, the part in question is from page 12 of the manual:
" Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
Players may now play cards or use powers that affect the check. ... Do not add traits from these cards to the
check; for example, playing the spell Guidance on a check does not
give the check the Divine trait."
Question, though: Why would Harsk discard a crossbow when he could recharge a card (could be the crossbow, if you want, or any other card) to achieve the same thing?
He may be doing it in addition to his native power. So, one card recharged to add 1d4+x, and the crossbow discarded to add 1d4+x.