Arueshalae's Gift

[Sathar]

We're nearing the end of our second WotR playthrough, but last night I had the sinking realization that be may have been playing the Gift wrong this whole time:

When we first met Arueshalae and learned of the Gift, I suspect that we conflated the Power on the cohort card and her Power that activates it. As a result, we routinely wait until we're deep in a check assembling dice, before weighing in on whether or not she needs to play the Gift for that little extra kick on a tough check, or to have a chance when we get caught flat footed by a surprise check on a weak skill.

It finally dawned on me, though, that it really is two separate powers:

On AG: "Display this card next to another character's deck and put a marker on 1 of the traits below. [...]"

On Arueshalae: "When the cohort Arueshalae's Gift is displayed [...] add 1d4 to his checks [...]"

While the second Power can unquestionably be played during a check in progress which it can affect (that's its whole point), the first Power (displaying the Cohort) technically does not affect a check in progress unless Arueshalae subsequently uses her Power. This appears to violate the rule that you cannot play Powers that require somebody to "Do something else" in order to affect the check.

Does that mean that Arueshalae's Gift needs to be played in advance before an Encounter, or is this an "exception" like when Balazar discards a spell during a fight to pull and play a monster (which feels like it breaks the same rule, but has explicitly been stated to be a valid play)?

[Frencois]

IMHO you indeed palyed it wrong and figured out you should have been playing it.

I. e. the "Display this card next to another character's deck and put a marker on 1 of the traits below. [...]" cannot be played during the check.

[skizzerz]

MM rulebook, p9 wrote:

Affecting the Situation

In some situations, you are limited to playing cards or using powers that affect or otherwise relate to the current situation. In these cases, the things you do cannot require anyone to do something else for your action to be meaningful—the things you do must directly affect the situation. For example, let’s say that a character is attempting a check using a power that adds 1 to her check for each blessing in her hand, and a second character has a power that allows him to give the first character a card. He could give her a blessing, because that doesn’t require any other action to affect the check. But he could not give her a card that allows her to draw a blessing from the box, because she would have to do something else—in this case, play the card he gave her—to affect the check.

(Also may be found in the WotR FAQ)

Based on the rules, I think you're fine. The rule is "cannot require anyone to do something else for your action to be meaningful." The act of having the Gift displayed is what gives a check bonus; nobody needs to do something else to gain that bonus once the Gift is displayed (adding the 1d4 is not optional, so it does not require any action on Arue's part to use). As nobody needs to do something else to gain that bonus once it is displayed, displaying the Gift therefore affects the situation and can be played during checks.

[Sathar]

Hrmmm, so what you're (skizzerz) saying is that because the Power on Arueshalae's character/role card is worded, "When the cohort..." that means that she does not have to actively use the Power, but it simply occurs.

By extension, I've been playing Alain and I've generally ruled that she could not use her Gift on me when I use Alain's solo combat power because she would be forbidden from "Using a Power" on my check. In actuality, I would be able to take advantage of the Gift if it is already displayed in front of Alain (because the effect occurs passively), though she would still be restricted from Displaying the Gift on me if it isn't already there.

[skizzerz]

Yes. See the example given in the rule. A separate power is in effect which gives +1 to a check for each blessing in hand. Because of that power, passing them a blessing affects the situation. Same deal here with Arue; a separate power is in effect when the gift is displayed, so displaying the gift affects the situation. Now, if Arue's power was optional ("you may add 1d4"), then it would require someone to do something else (aka choose to use the power) and would therefore not affect the situation.

Because it is a "when" power it activates every time the condition is met, and would not count as "using a power" due to it being mandatory. (99% sure on that, but haven't checked the rulebook for that in particular so this is just my educated guess)

[Frencois]

On second thought, I agreee with skizzerz

[Hawkmoon269]

My first inclination was what Frencois said, but I do agree that upon reading skizzerz post, his seems the correct understanding.

So, congratulations! You have not unintentionally made the power too powerful.

[SimonB]

I got other question about Arueshalae's Gift. When playing Arueshalae in other Adventure Path can I still use kiss? I mean, to use it you must have a token, but token mechanism is used only in WoTR. Can I use tokens in other APS? I know the rule "it's your game, have fun" but still I want ask about this in case of integrity with future rules.

[cartmanbeck]

SimonB wrote:

I got other question about Arueshalae's Gift. When playing Arueshalae in other Adventure Path can I still use kiss? I mean, to use it you must have a token, but token mechanism is used only in WoTR. Can I use tokens in other APS? I know the rule "it's your game, have fun" but still I want ask about this in case of integrity with future rules.

Yes, because the Arueshalae's Gift card lays out the rule (which in this case, is simply put a token, which can be a coin, a gum wrapper, a piece of hair, ANYTHING on the card), you can use it in any set. It's sorta like how the extra card that came with Ranzak lays out the Plunder mechanic in case you want to use him in another set.

[Hawkmoon269]

To back that up, the card actually says to put a "marker" on it. That isn't the same term as "mythic charge" which are those little cardboard circles that come in the Wrath of the Righteous box (and that I believe you were referring to). "Token" is actually the term for the card with your character's picture on it that you use to mark your location.

The term "marker" is actually first used in Rise of the Runelords for the location Leng Device. That game came without "official" markers as well.

From that, it seems clear you are expected to use what ever object you want as a marker. And thus there is no dependency on Wrath of the Righteous for the terminology or mechanism.