Still confused about when to play some cards and powers.

[Michael Klaus]

Most cards are self explanatory concerning when you can play them since they either determine the skill for a check or they affect a check or they give you an exploration or it relates to a specific check.

For the rest we tried to stick with:

"If a card in your hand does not specify when it can be played, you
can generally play it anytime you can play cards, with the exception
that during an encounter you may only perform specific actions at
specific times."

and:

"During each of these steps, you and the other
players may perform only the specified actions. Players may only play
cards or use powers that relate to each step (or relate to cards played
or powers used in that step). Each player may play no more than 1
card of each type during each step; for example, no one player may
play more than 1 blessing while attempting a check, though multiple
players could each play 1 blessing during that check. Each player may
activate any power no more than once during each step. Players may
not play any cards or activate any powers between those steps."

Now we had a situation the other night that let to some discussion:

Feiya was encountering the Blood Hag (and was really annoyed already since she took a beating before, didn't get much healing and Alahazra did not warn her of that Blood Hag). She did not have any problem beating the check to defeat but the Bood Hag deals 3 Fire damage to each character at the location when defeated and Feiya had just discarded her Resist Ernergy spell.

Now Feiya's player started to wonder if Feiya really had to use her "familiar" power before exploring the next cards (which had worked fine until Alahazra started to keep her examining power for her own turn so she could encounter the boons) or since her character power was related to the card she wanted to play relating to the fire damage, she was maybe allowed to do so.
But then Damiel's player chimed in saying that he was denied to play Tot Flask during an encounter and we settled with Feiya taking the fire damage (I am pretty sure that voting would have gone another way if Alahazra and Damiel would have been at Feiya's location).

I would really like to have some insight on what that rule is sopposed to do: Simply keep you from doing certain things that are totally unrelated from the actions during the steps (like healing in the middle of an encounter?) or keep you from retrieving a single card that you might need for an action (and therefore some kind of balancing?)
How do you distinguish what does and what does not relate to a step?

[elcoderdude]

This is a tricky question, but the consensus on this forum has been that the action itself must directly affect the step, not a subsequent action made possible by the action. So Feiya couldn't use her power to retrieve her spell before taking the Blood Hag's damage, because retrieving a card doesn't itself directly pertain to the step.

This logic is used in this discussion here and here to argue you can't play Phantasmal Minion during a step to give a card which will be used for that step.

I can't locate an official clarification on this point.

[Hawkmoon269]

It only relates if it ties to the name of the step (I.e. If a power says "before you act") or if the card directly relates to what you are doing.

Searching for a card that you could play, doesn't directly relate to what you are doing. Thus, Tot Flask, Call Weapon, Phantasmal Minion, and Feiya's power can't be used during an encounter.

See this thread for a lengthier explanation.

[Ripe]

Sorry to but in, but what do you mean by this:

Michael Klaus wrote:

...(which had worked fine until Alahazra started to keep her examining power for her own turn so she could encounter the boons) ...

Doesn't Alahazra's Stargazer ability to encounter boons she just examined work regardless of whose turn it is?

[Vic Wertz]

Ripe wrote:

Sorry to but in, but what do you mean by this:

Michael Klaus wrote:

...(which had worked fine until Alahazra started to keep her examining power for her own turn so she could encounter the boons) ...

Doesn't Alahazra's Stargazer ability to encounter boons she just examined work regardless of whose turn it is?

Nope.

Alahazra Stargazer wrote:

When you use the above power to examine a card from a location deck on your turn, and it is a boon, you may encounter it.