DD - Scenario 3B

[Endeavorto]

I am a new Pathfinder player working my way through the Core Set, playing solo with 3 characters. The setup procedures for Scenario 3B are a bit confusing. I could use some clarification before beginning.

1. The Perils Wildcard: Confusing - "After you reset, shuffle a random card into your deck." Does the card come from the Vault? If so, what types are included, or is it all types including Monsters and Barriers?

2. With 3 characters the Story Bane stack is 1 Villain Proxy and 3 Henchmen Proxies all of which are the Dragon. In the "During this Scenario" section the 3rd paragraph reads "When you would encounter a proxy, first apply a random unmarked wildcard from the Perils; stop applying any other wildcard from the Perils." Does this mean that the newest wildcard replaces the previous wildcard, leaving only ONE wildcard that is active? Also, is it persistent for all turns going forward?

3. In the "During this Scenario" section the 4th paragraph reads "When the Dragon would be defeated, stop applying all wildcards from The Perils." First, how can you know that the Dragon WOULD BE DEFEATED until you actually defeat it? Secondly, the "stop applying all wildcards" implies that the answer to #2 above is multiple wildcards can be active or is it that the current wildcard does not trigger?

4. The next sentence continues with "Then, if there are 3 or more cards in the location, the Dragon is undefeated... the if you encountered the villain proxy, put that on the bottom of the location... if henchman proxy, banish it."

This logic implies that I will have to defeat the Dragon 4 times, one of which will put the villain proxy on the bottom of the deck. Then defeat him again when there the deck has 0, 1 or 2 cards remaining. This requires you to drill the entire deck and the Dragon will always be one of the last 3 cards and most often it will be the last card. Is this correct and is this the case when you know the Dragon WOULD BE DEFEATED?

[Keith Richmond]

1. From your hand. (When instructed to do anything with a card, it defaults to your hand)
2. Yes, just 1 wildcard active. If you fail to defeat the dragon, it will persist for all turns going forward.
3a. After you succeed at the check to defeat and would normally have defeated it, you follow that text. That is, yes, you _actually defeat it_, then it turns into an undefeat from the scenario text.
3b. This text isn't as concise as it should be (all wildcards). That said, if someone were doing this on heroic or legendary, it might make sense to get 2 or 3 new wildcards on encountering the dragon, to spice things up, and then the rule is still compatible.
4. You can potentially only defeat him a couple times, with luck and/or deck rearrangement (if the last 3 cards are villain, proxy, proxy for instance). But, yep, you have to work through most or all of the location, so whenever you defeat the dragon, it might turn into an undefeat, but you still get to stop the wildcard.

[skizzerz]

In PACG parlance, there’s two wordings used to indicate timing of things. Let’s look at the event “something is defeated”

If a power is worded “When something is defeated,” that means the power happens after the event happens. It cannot change the outcome of the event, but rather is used to tack on additional things.

If a power is worded “When something would be defeated,” that means the power happens before the event happens. This can change the outcome of the event to something else entirely. For this example, we could change “defeated” into “undefeated” or “evaded” instead.

In either case, you don’t apply those powers until that event shows up. So, you don’t apply “would be defeated” until you actually try to declare the thing as “defeated” (which happens in the “Resolve the Encounter” step of the encounter).

You’ll see the “would be” wording (indicating it happens before the event) significantly more often on boons. For example, some Items may allow a check to recharge or discard them instead of burying or banishing them for their power. By having a “When this would be buried, attempt a Craft 7 check to recharge this card instead” power, that power triggers before you officially bury it, allowing you to do something else with the card instead of burying it.

And this should go without saying, but if you have a “would be” (before the event) power that changes the outcome of the event, the original outcome never happens. So, if something said “If Hirgenzosk would be defeated, he is undefeated.” And you defeat Hirgenzosk, he’s never defeated. Therefore a separate power “When a monster is defeated, heal a card” would never apply after fighting Hirgenzosk, because you can never actually defeat him.

Hope that helps explain how the timing of powers in PACG works a bit better :)

[Endeavorto]

Thanks for the speedy replies and excellent assistance.