I'm playing class deck seelah, and have the power to add 4 when a character at my location attempts a check before they act.
My question is can my character use this when a card says, "before you act summon and defeat such and such monster" to add to the combat checks against that monster.
Good question.
I would think no because it "seems" consistent with not being able to use a barrier or close location blessing when it's not a straight check but a summon. But it's not exactly the same, so....
Good candidate for weekly can'o'worms.
The summon counts as a new encounter (see WotR rulebook, p.15) so I don't think you're in the "before you act" phase anymore and you can't use your Charisma skill to substitute.