Combat vs non-combat blessings

[Alexx Kay]

Say someone is encountering a Monster which does NOT have the "Combat" keyword, but has "Wisdom". A Blessing of Milani (IIRC) is played, which can give 2 dice on "non-combat" Wisdom checks. It seems unintuitive to me that encountering a Monster could count as "non-combat", even when that Monster is lacking the "combat" keyword. My playgroup disagreed, but suggested I ask for clarification. May I have some?

[Hawkmoon269]

It is only combat if the check says combat, even against a monster.

[First World Bard]

If you still think it's unintuitive, consider a monster with a Charisma / Diplomacy check to defeat. Do you still feel that trying to defeat the monster would involve combat?

One important thing to note: unless otherwise specified, all monsters deal Combat Damage when you fail your check to defeat them, even if it is not a Combat check to defeat. So if you fail your Wisdom check or whatever, you still get pounded on and can have your Armor protect you.

[skizzerz]

If a monster is Charisma Diplomacy to defeat, I imagine that I am trying to talk to it and somehow either win it over to my side or at least have it not be aggressive towards me. No fighting involved.

For things like the Siren with its Wisdom check, I imagine I hear its song from a distance and need to be wise enough to recognize it for what it is and thus avoid going to it to be trapped by it.

In either case if I fail I imagine I got in a minor tussle or was briefly trapped and thus take combat damage before I can get away.

Not every encounter in the RPG involves smashing faces with weapons, so why should the card game not follow the same concepts? As a GM I'd award full xp both for actually defeating an encounter in combat as well as successfully role playing to avoid combat with it.

[Alexx Kay]

First World Bard wrote:

One important thing to note: unless otherwise specified, all monsters deal Combat Damage when you fail your check to defeat them, even if it is not a Combat check to defeat. So if you fail your Wisdom check or whatever, you still get pounded on and can have your Armor protect you.

Ah! I think that was the part that was confusing my intuitions. Thanks!