Who does Storm affect?


Rules Questions and Gameplay Discussion


I can see two ways to read the barrier Storm: the pedantic way, and the intuitive way.

Reading it the pedantic way, it only affects the character who encountered it. I came to this conclusion based partly on the discussion about Jolly Roger, which only benefits the character who plays it, and partly on the fact that other displayed/task barriers exist that refer to "characters at this location" or similar. Storm, on the other hand, is displayed by a location but only affects "you". By the letter of the rules, this seems to be the right way to play it.

The intuitive way to interpret it is that it affects any character at its location, because it's a storm so how could it only affect one person? Perhaps I should call this the thematic way. But the only arguments I can see to support this interpretation are theme, and the fact that the card is displayed in a "shared" location as opposed to next to a character (an argument which failed to work for Jolly Roger).

So... how are people playing Storm?


We treated Storm like those other barriers that remain face up, like Goose in the Rigging, and it affected any character at that location.

Your first way makes it seem like a personal storm that wants to just dog you.


How exactly is it worded?


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Storm wrote:

Display this barrier next to the location deck.

If you start your turn at this location, roll 1d6. On a 6, banish this barrier. On any other result, your ship is dealt that amount of Structural damage; move this barrier faceup next to a random location.

I think it is supposed to affect everyone. And the difference with Jolly Roger is that someone plays Jolly Roger. On storm, you have 2 different instructions: First, place it face up at the location. Second, if you start your turn at this location... I don't think the first one has to have been done this turn for the second one to be true.

But I get what you are saying. It could perhaps be more clear if the rules section on faceup cards (which I now also see don't technically mention cards left faceup NEXT to locations) said that faceup card left NEXT to location are sort of like new "AT THIS LOCATION" effects for that location as long as they remain faceup at that location.


With Hawkmoon, as usual. It should affect everyone, but an errata is probably in order after the Jolly Roger.


Thanks Hawkmoon for posting the card text.

I've just been looking at barriers that I can find online for comparison (I don't have my S&S set with me) and I notice that Bucket Brigade refers to both characters and you in different places:

Bucket Brigade wrote:
If undefeated, leave this barrier faceup on the location deck; characters at this location encounter this barrier as their first exploration each turn. If you start your turn at this location, your ship is dealt 1 Structural damage.

Several Task barriers have the "characters at this location encounter this barrier as their first exploration each turn" wording; this is what led me to think that if Storm had been intended to affect all characters, it should use "characters" rather than "you". I like your interpretation that a faceup card next to a location provides an additional AT THIS LOCATION effect.

Just to make my position clear: the Storm probably should affect all characters (why would anyone design a Storm card to only affect one character?) but I don't see how the text on the card & the rules support that. BTW the only time I've encountered Storm was in Toll of the Bell, when I applied it only to Seltyiel, who encountered it; it was my third attempt at that scenario, I had just read the Jolly Roger thread, and I was willing to use any loophole to get through such a crushingly difficult scenario!


Orbis Orboros wrote:
With Hawkmoon, as usual. It should affect everyone, but an errata is probably in order after the Jolly Roger.

Agreeing with Orbis who is agreeing with Hawk... as usual :-).


"You" always refers to either the person playing a card or the person dealing with a card.

Whenever a character starts a turn at a location with Storm, its text is relevant, so the "You" refers to the character starting his/her turn at that location.

It isn't encountered directly once it's face-up, and its effect is always in play, so there's no need for the text "characters at this location encounter..."

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