On your combat check, if you did not play a spell that has the Attack trait, bury this card to reroll the dice; take the new result. If you have the Monk trait, you may recharge this card instead of burying it.
On weapons and spells from previous sets, any power that adds to or subtracts from a check, or that rerolls dice, may be played freely. Powers that also determine the type of check may not be played freely.
The transition guide specifically allows spells and weapons which grant a reroll to be played freely, but not items. However, since Ascetic's Belt is from the Monk class deck, it will often be held by a character who uses an item to boost their attack rolls (such as any of the Amulets).
Also, many Belts (Belt of Giant Strength, etc) have the pre-"freely" phrasing of "You may play another item on this check" but the Ascetic's Belt lacks this.
Having both played Athnul, and having an Athnul at a table that I am currently running makes me think that this card should be allowed to be played freely. Thoughts?
(Or maybe the solution is to let Athnul play a belt, a ring, and an amulet on the same check)
I think it should be added as freely in the conversion for exactly your reasons
Many weapons and spells which add to a check or allow for rerolls did have the "you may play another x on this check" text which does translate to freely.
I'm curious why the restriction was lifted wrt Weapons and Spells, when other boons that have similar effects are stuck without being able to be played freely.
I asked a similar question as I was unsure too but Items will not be looked at as a whole:
It counts as playing an Item to use unless directed differently on the card, then nothing has changed.
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Having both played Athnul, and having an Athnul at a table that I am currently running makes me think that this card should be allowed to be played freely. Thoughts?
I get that you're asking not how things should be by current RAW, but if the card should be changed as a whole, right?
I say you're right, and let's examine:
- The Belt *only* asks the you have not played Attack spells. So, the limitation here is more on "thematic" grounds
- The Belt clearly assumes you're doing archetypal Monk battle - bare hands or possibly a (Acrobatics/Monk) Weapon
- Weapons usually have a way of adding a second die to your check; furthermore, as of late, they also usually have some secondary ability or perk (at higher tiers)
- Amulets, on the other hand - or at least the ones I've seen- only add a die and a trait
Bottomline, from a balance perspective, if the Belt should allow you to use the (much more) powerful Weapons in your combat, it should follow that it allow the less powerful (but still Monk-themed) Amulets.
(Though, I admit, the above doesn't reflect that for some Monks carrying a weapon would require a Card feat, and that they can usually carry a bunch of amulets <which, however, from my XP, is NOT a common Monk build>)
So, IMHO, house-rule the Belt away and enjoy it with your Amulets.