Questions from a new player

[akwhsu]

Hi guys,

I recently bought the core set (2nd edition) and the curse of the crimson throne for my family to play. Never played or heard of Pathfinder prior to this so I am a complete newbie here. I absolutely love the card game (and so do my kids) and I am glad I spent that bit extra to get the expansion set. Anything to support the company and the guys behind Pathfinder.

I have some questions I can't seem to find in the rules book:

1. When we played as Ezren and encountered a Monster, we used his spell Force Missiles, which changes combat check to arcane. Ezren's strength is 1d6 and arcane is 1d12 +2...so I assume our base roll is now 1d12 +2. Force Missiles also adds 2d4...so now we have 1d12 +2, and 2d4. But what if I also have a weapon in my hand such as a quarterstaff? It says I can add a 1d6 for my combat using my strength. So can I add the 1d6 and thus end up using arcane and strength rolls? Or am I confined to one type of attribute for each combat so in this case I am already using arcane so I can't add another strength roll.

2. When we bless, do you include modifiers? For example, if I bless Ezren and he is using arcane for combat 1d12 +2. Does the bless add another 1d12 only, or a 1d12 +2.

3. Using only 1 type of each card: I know that if I am in combat and using a weapon, then another player using Harsk can't use his Crossbow to help me in combat because that counts as using 2 weapon cards. My question is: does using a card mean using its power only. This leads to the 2nd scenario I am unsure about. One of my sons played Valeros and one of his powers is he can recharge/reload a weapon or armor (without using its power) to add a 1d4 to combat. If he is already using a weapon in combat, can he still recharge/reload another weapon card to get the bonus 1d4 dice?

Thanks for your help

[Frencois]

Welcome to the game.

1) You can't use both the spell and the weapon because of that rule:

Rulebook p.11 under Determine Which Skill You’re Using wrote:

Some powers allow you to use a particular skill for a specific type of check. These powers say things like “For your combat check, use Dexterity or Ranged.” You may use only one such power to determine which skill you’re using.

Both the spell and the weapon have the "For your combat check, use..." wording so you have to select one and cannot use both powers on the same combat check. So indeed you'll roll 1d12+2+2d4.

Ezren typically only uses his weapon when he is out of spells, if he wants to keep his last spell for a specific occasion, or if he is near death (not enough cards in his deck) and don't want to take the risk of failing to recover his spell.

2) Blessing only adds a DIE. Never the modifiers. So the previous roll, if blessed, becomes 2d12+2+2d4. If blessed twice, it becomes 3d12+2+2d4...

3) Playing a card means activating a power on THAT card. So Valeros recharging a weapon to use Valeros' power (not the weapon's power) isn't playing a weapon. So Valeros can indeed add to the check by reloading a weapon even if a weapon was already played.

[Longshot11]

akwhsu wrote:

...we used his spell Force Missiles, which changes combat check to arcane.

... am I confined to one type of attribute for each combat...

.. I know that if I am in combat and using a weapon, then another player using Harsk can't use his Crossbow to help me in combat...

Welcome to the community!

Just to make sure you're not making some common newbie mistakes:

1) Force Missiles let's you use Arcane FOR your Combat check, it doesn't CHANGE the Combat check to a non-Combat Arcane check. So you could still use powers like Valeros' to "add 1d4 to a combat check" but NOT powers that say "add X to your non-combat Arcane check"

2) You are usually *using* only one skill for any one check - however, most effects in the game are interested in a check's TRAITS, not the skill you're "using") - and the skill TRAITS you add on a combat check are usually 2 - your "specialized" skill (Ezren's Arcane) and the skill it derives from (his Intelligence). Do note, there's no "hard limit" on the number of skills that are added as traits to the check (and that can be crucial!) , so some powers may allow to expand that list. Say, a power that states "You may use your Knowledge skill for your Arcane check" - that means you would add as traits all of Intelligence, Knowledge and Arcane (even if technically speaking you're only "using" your Knowledge skill).
Also, be aware that some powers let you "ADD your Knowledge skill to your X check" - when you ADD a skill, you're NOT adding it as a trait to the check!

3) Your example for Val and Harsk playing 2 weapons would generally be correct. However - do note the word FREELY in a Crossbow's "assist power". When a power let's you play it freely - it does NOT count towards your limit.

[wkover]

akwhsu wrote:

Never played or heard of Pathfinder prior to this so I am a complete newbie here.

If it helps, these are some easily missed rules: link.

Good luck, and enjoy the game!

[akwhsu]

Great, thanks for clarifying the rules everyone. I may post some more questions on this thread at a later stage as we play more.

[akwhsu]

Hi again everyone,

A few more questions here. We've played up to scenario 2C in the core set. We are finding this particular scenario more difficult than the previous ones. Here are 3 things we need help clarifying:

1. Some cards state 'Attack' (I remember one of the Monster cards said Immune to Attack) - initially I did the wrong thing and assumed it meant combat as I associated 'attack' with combat. However, am I correct in saying it refers to the trait 'attack' like in most combat magic spells?

2. Spell display - we received the 'Wall of Light' spell which allows displaying. If a player displayed this before their exploration phase and then encounters a monster, can they still use the combat bonus it provides AND another spell? The rules says that only 1 type of each card per encounter. But since we played it before a monster encounter and its effects last the whole turn, when we do face an encounter can we play another spell? Does this contradict the rules?

3. If someone skips their turn, do they advance the hour glass?

Thanks so much for your help.

[Parody]

1. It means a card with the Attack trait, yes. Some Items and character powers that act like Spells will have it too.

2. You can't play another Spell and use a power on the displayed Spell because using a power on a displayed card counts as playing the card. (Page 7 of the Core Set Rulebook, second paragraph under Playing Cards.)

3. Yes. You can't just skip your turn; you still have to go through all the phases of the turn even if you choose not to move or explore. Notably, you still have to advance the Hour, you still do Recovery and reset your hand at the end of the turn, and you still need to do anything that your Location or the Scenario tells you to do during your turn.

Hope this helps!

[Jenceslav]

Ad 3 - Also, in one unnamed scenario the big winged baddie throws Wounded scourge left and right. And if you "skipped" the turn, you would cicrumvent that effect, saving you from death. And we cannot have that, can we?

[skizzerz]

1. Immune to X always means that you cannot play cards with the X trait or use powers which add the X trait to the check. In terms of Immune to Attack, that represents the card being largely immune to magic flavor-wise. So yes, it generally only impacts spells (and wands/staves, which cast spells).

2. Depend which power on Wall of Light you’re using. Activating an optional power on a displayed card counts as playing that card. If the power on the displayed card is not optional (such as the power to add 1d4 and the Magic trait to another local character’s Combat check), that applies whenever applicable and does not count as playing the card.

However the first power on Wall of Light (Arcane/Divine + 2d4/2d8) says “you may.” That means the power is optional and using it counts as playing the displayed card (and therefore playing a spell).

3. You cannot choose to skip your turn. You may choose not to move, give a card, or explore but you must still go through all phases of the turn and apply any active powers whenever they are relevant. See the sidebar on page 10 of the rulebook for a list of sources where those powers may come from—the hour, storybook, character cards, locations, displayed cards, etc.

Some cards may have you “end your turn” prematurely. When such an effect happens, you do skip intermediate phases of your turn (so effects during those phases would not happen) and jump straight to applying end of turn effects, doing recovery, then resetting your hand. When forced to prematurely end your turn, you may not play cards or use powers when resolving end of turn effects.

There is only one effect in the game that causes you to skip your turn entirely and that only happens if your character is dead. You skip over dead characters’ turns completely, so you do not advance the hourglass or apply any effects for them (rules-wise the wording is “You cannot take turns”)

[Longshot11]

Parody wrote:

2. You can't play another Spell and use a power on the displayed Spell because using a power on a displayed card counts as playing the card. (Page 7 of the Core Set Rulebook, second paragraph under Playing Cards.)

@OP: just to make sure this doesn't trip you up - the above is correct only when you "play" a displayed card - an easy rule of thumb is that you have a CHOICE to use the power on the card (like Wall of LIght).

However, if you had displayed a spell that says "While displayed, reduce all X damage by 1" (i.e. you do NOT have a choice to apply it) - it does NOT count as playing it. So, if you take damage in your encounter you can BOTH apply the displayed spell (mandatory) and *play* another damage-reduction spell (optional).

(Although the above just made me question why exploring with an ally that says "This exploration you MAY add 1d4 to you Diplomacy checks" would STILL allow me to play an ally on the check. Hmm...)