Originally BYA only applied to the character encountering the card. The FAQ expanded upon that, but the hundreds of cards that used the old terminology are not being reprinted, so we need to reconcile the old with the new. The "Before you act" now acts merely as a timing clue, in other words the power only takes effect after any evasion effects have been processed. Do not read into the words "Before you act" any more than that or you will very quickly see that the situation leads to reductio ad absurdum, as you discovered in your post. Hawkmoon's breakdown shows that the words "before you act" have absolutely nothing to do with how to parse the power in light of that FAQ; it's merely tells you when the power starts to take effect in the course of the encounter.
Chief Technical Officer
|
"Acting" is basically the "attempt the check" and the "attempt the next check" steps of the encounter.
From here on out, this will only be opinion.
Keep in mind, the Goblin Warchanter was made well before the FAQ about "you" was made. If the Goblin Warchanter was reprtinted, it might say something different (it surely wouldn't say "before the encounter"). So, it probably isn't best to argue over the nuances of how the Gobline Warchanter was worded. Today, it might say "When any character would play a spell with the attack trait or a weapon, they must first succeed at a Wisdom 8 check." It might even put that in the BYA step as "Before you act, any character that would play a spell or weapon during the rest of the encounter must first succeed at a Wisdom 8 check." Who knows.
If it were reprinted today, it would say "Before you act, succeed at a Wisdom 8 check or you may not play spells that have the Attack trait or weapons." As you correctly pointed out, the rule "If [a bane] limits the things you can do, that limit applies to any character who wants to do those things" makes it clear who "you" is, and "before you act" tells you when to do it, so it says everything it needs to say.
Second, the Wrathful Sinspawn is different, as Skizzerz points out. Here is the wording from the FAQ:
If a bane says an effect happens if or when you do a particular thing, it applies to any character who does that thing. If it limits the things you can do, that limit applies to any character who wants to do those things; however, if the limitation is the result of an action such as playing a card or attempting a check, it applies only to the character who took that action.
Let's break it down.
1. If a bane says an effect happens if or when you do a particular thing, it applies to any character who does that thing.
2a. If it limits the things you can do, that limit applies to any character who wants to do those things;
2b. however, if the limitation is the result of an action such as playing a card or attempting a check, it applies only to the character who took that action.
Ok. So where does the Goblin Warchanter fit into that? 2a. It limits the things you can do, so it applies to any character who wants to do those things.
How about Wrathful Sinspawn? It isn't 1, since it doesn't happen if or when you do a particular thing (i.e. it happens during the BYA step. It doesn't say "If you would attempt a check, succeed at a Wisdom 8 check or the difficulty of all your checks is increased by 1). And it isn't 2a or 2b since it isn't about limiting the things you can do.
Right again. It doesn't fit into the rules that broaden "you," so the "you" here is the common you: "you who are encountering the card."