I always figured I had a good grasp on these powers. But, I remember reading something, I forget where, but now I'm starting to question them.
I have set aside 5 locations from Wrath.
1) Abattoir
2) Cell
3) Cemetery
4) Eagle Rock
5) Mongrel Village
Because of the wording on these locations, am I correct or incorrect in thinking that when someone is at one of the above locations, the 'At This Location' power will affect everything game wide?
If one person is at the Abattoir, will EVERY check in the game against a bane be +X harder? Will you have to succeed at a STR or Disable check to move if one person is at the Cell? Will all monsters gain additional
traits if one person is at either Eagle Rock or the Cemetery?
I included Cell in this group as the word 'you' is not used in the power block.
I believe these 5 locations are all that could apply here. Every other location uses either 'you' or 'your' in referencing something.
i think not and we've been playing it as it would only affect characters at that specific location. You are correct that it doesn't explicitly say "you" or "your". But I think the general rule is that "At This Location" only affects characters at that location.
Thus if you encounter a barrier that forces everyone to encounter a card, only the characters at the Abattoir get the +X to banes.
I believe most of these instances are considered exactly as worded. If they do not say "at this location" then they will affect everyone. I believe the cell has a closing power that causes everyone to take 1 mental damage. On the other hand, the Abattoir says "at this location."
Characters at that location only my good sir... :D
I'd agree, all those locations' "at this location" powers only apply to the characters at those locations.
Some points of reference:
Vic talks about "At this location."
You might be recalling this thread about Tempest Cay which does sort of have a power that effects anything that happens anywhere. But only because some one is at that location and because the ship in S&S is your ship even when you aren't on it. (i.e. That location basically says "If you are at this location, when your ship is dealt damage, add 1 to it.")
Yeah. I guess in general, they tell how how things work at that location. And the way it is worded will tell you whether it applies only to characters at that location, the deck of that location, or what else.
But in general, I think the typically apply only to the characters at that location. For example "At this location: Add 5 to checks to defeat." That would apply to checks at that location, or more specifically checks made by characters at that location. "At this location: When you play a blessing, discard a card." That would apply to playing blessings at that location, or more specifically to characters at that location that play blessings.
And as far as I could tell these 5 locations were the only ones in Wrath that did not include the words 'you' or 'your' in the powers block. As of adv deck 3.
As is usually the case with me, I'm probably reading something that isn't or not intended to be there.
The only caveat/difference is that the ship, unless it is anchored, is considered to be at all locations. This means that if a character is at Tempest Cay and the ship is not anchored, then whenever the ship takes damage, it is taking damage at Tempest Cay, since, for the purposes of the character at Tempest Cay, the ship is there and is taking damage.
But for every other use of At This Location powers, I would agree with you.
The only caveat/difference is that the ship, unless it is anchored, is considered to be at all locations. This means that if a character is at Tempest Cay and the ship is not anchored, then whenever the ship takes damage, it is taking damage at Tempest Cay, since, for the purposes of the character at Tempest Cay, the ship is there and is taking damage.
I don't think that is accurate. The ship is only with the commander, i.e. the currently active player, unless it is anchored. Otherwise cards that operate differently when you're on the ship would almost always be in effect.
The reason that Tempest Cay is always in effect is because the ship is always "your ship" regardless of whether or not you are the active player or whether or not you are on the ship. So any time "your ship" is dealt structural damage, if a player is at that location it would trigger the power.
It would be similar if there was a location that said, for example, "Any time a character plays a blessing, take 1 Force damage". If you were at that location, it wouldn't matter where the character that played the blessing was located at, since any blessing would act as a trigger that caused the location power to take effect.
Now that leaves the question: Why doesn't the Woods power trigger anytime that any character fails to defeat a monster at any location if a character is in the Woods? It seems like the trigger for that is "Monster is undefeated" which should trigger regardless of who failed to defeat it or where they are. It could have probably been written something like "When you resolve your encounter, undefeated monsters other than villain or henchmen are banished." That makes it clear that it is limited to your encounters only.
Well, Tempest Cay has been updated.
If this location is occupied, Structural damage to your ship at any location is increased by 1.
So, that makes it clear that is is an exception to the "typical" formula, and very different from the Woods.
okay, so then we can go back to Michael's premise that stuff "At This Location" only applies to people at that location. If the developer/designers want an exception, they'll make it (like they do with Tempest Cay).
So we're good? :)
There was a FAQ update for Fog Bank. Strangely, I had always played that as the designers intended while still using Alahazra to scan remote locations (ignoring their negative effects) from ones with positive effects. (Bonuses on checks to acquire or drawing cards whenever I made a check were awesome.)
Then I used Pteranodons to hop around fighting banes to make more remote viewing possible....
okay, so then we can go back to Michael's premise that stuff "At This Location" only applies to people at that location. If the developer/designers want an exception, they'll make it (like they do with Tempest Cay).
So we're good? :)
I think so. I'm not sure that we've hit the technically correct understanding (i.e. the rules don't say it only applies to those at the location by default), but, for all the locations I've seen so far, I think we've hit the practically correct understanding.
Chief Technical Officer
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I think so. I'm not sure that we've hit the technically correct understanding (i.e. the rules don't say it only applies to those at the location by default), but, for all the locations I've seen so far, I think we've hit the practically correct understanding.
We can't really say "At This Location powers only apply to characters at that location by default" because many At This Location powers don't apply to characters at all—a lot of them apply to things you encounter at that location. But it is true that when an At This Location power says "you," it's addressing characters at that location.
OK. As usual I was misinterpreting things. Fortunately all that changed for me with these interpretations was that I ganged up on the locations to knock em out as fast as possible.
Not to revive a dead thread for no reason, I wanted to get a clarification.
Does this mean that banes that affect all characters at all locations would have their difficulty determined by where each character is and not by where the bane came from?
Example 1:
At this location: The difficulty to defeat banes is increased by 3.
All other location have no banes altering powers.
Should a Skeletal Horde come up (where everyone at an open location must summon and encounter the bane) in the location where bane difficulty is +3, would only characters at the +3 location have an increased difficulty?
Example 2:
What about Treasure Hunt in S&S? It says "Each character may attempt at a check to defeat this barrier."
If it was encountered at Fringes of the Eye ("All barriers +3 difficulty" at this location power), would only those actually at the fringes have a +3 difficulty?
Just want to make sure we aren't messing up check calculations.
Example 1: It's based on where the character attempting the check to defeat is. If the character attempting the check is at that location, that check (and ONLY that check) is +3 difficulty. Characters not at that location but attempting checks against the same bane do not have their difficulties impacted by the location power.
Same deal with example 2, it's based on where the character attempting the check is.
I'd say...
Example 1: Only the character(s) at that location would have the difficulty increased by 3.
Example 2: Fringes of the Eye says:
The difficulty of checks to defeat barriers is increased by 3.
So, I'd say the character there attempting to defeat Treasure Hunt have a +3 to the difficulty.
As I understand it (and I could be wrong) the location can sort of specify what has to be at the location. In these two examples, the check is the thing being talked about. Checks happen where characters are. So if you are there, the check is harder.
Other locations talk about where the characters are or where the card they are encountering came from. You have to determine what the thing "at the location" is.