Can Zetha use multiple monsters for her powers in the same instance?

[Norby]

Zetha is from the Summoner CD and has the following powers:

Her card wrote:

You may banish a monster from your hand to evade your encounter or use your Stealth skill in place of the listed skill for a non-combat check ([x] or to add 1d6 to your check to defeat a barrier

Another relevant power is on her cohort Ahtez

Ahtez’s card wrote:

… While displayed, when you are dealt damage, you may banish a monster to reduce damage dealt to you by 2 plus its adv#

My question is are the following actions legal.

1. Can she banish 2 monsters when facing a barrier to use stealth skill instead of the listed skill as well as add 1d6? Or perhaps just add 2d6?

2. When she takes damage, can she banish 2 monsters to reduce damage by 4 plus their adv#s?

Thanks

[Jenceslav]

Norby wrote:

Zetha is from the Summoner CD and has the following powers:

My question is are the following actions legal.
1. Can she banish 2 monsters when facing a barrier to use stealth skill instead of the listed skill as well as add 1d6? Or perhaps just add 2d6?

2. When she takes damage, can she banish 2 monsters to reduce damage by 4 plus their adv#s?

2. I believe you can only get reduction by 2+adv# by banishing a single monster, as character and card powers can activate only once. If the power allowed banishing multiple monsters, the wording would be different ~ "any number of monsters; for each banished monster, reduce it by 2 plus their adventure deck number, if any"

1. Ok, so these are three powers bundled up in one. You can use this power once during each step or check. Say you encounter a barrier that does not list Stealth in its check to defeat and have 2 monsters in hand + all power boxes checked. One of the steps is ~ determine the skill of the check. Here, you can use this power to say "this barrier can be defeated by Stealth". Later, another step is ~ attempt the check. It is a different step, so you should be able to use Zetha's power again - and only once. So you banish another monster to add 1d6 to the Stealth check => the check to defeat is Stealth + 1d6.
Or you can say "I am fine with the skill in the check to defeat (e.g. Arcane)", so I will banish a monster to add 1d6 to it. Even if you have 2 monsters, you can add only 1d6, not 2d6.

Is it understandable? Resident rules experts, please correct me if I am wrong. :)

[skizzerz]

1. No.

Rulebook p7 wrote:

If a character power applies when a specific thing happens, you may use it each time that happens; otherwise, you may use each power no more than once per check or step.

That power on Zetha's card is not a power that applies when a specific thing happens (such powers always begin with the word "When"), so you can only use it once per check or step.

2. No, for the same reason as above. (Note that a Cohort power is not a "character power," so powers on Cohorts or other cards are always restricted to once per check or step -- aka they will never qualify for that special case in the above-quoted rule)

[Whipstitch]

skizzerz wrote:

1. No.

Rulebook p7 wrote:

If a character power applies when a specific thing happens, you may use it each time that happens; otherwise, you may use each power no more than once per check or step.

That power on Zetha's card is not a power that applies when a specific thing happens (such powers always begin with the word "When"), so you can only use it once per check or step.

Jenceslav essentially lays out why they feel the rule (One card per check or step) would allow using her power to both determine the skill used for the check and then to modify the check. You quote the same rule but give no rationale why Jenceslav's reasoning is unsound.

[Jenceslav]

After some detailed reading of both Mummy's Mask rules and Core rules, I believe Skizzers is right, even though there was no explanation given. The rule is one card / power per check or step, but the "Determine the skill you are using" is described in both current rules as an "action", not a "step" of a check.
This distinction is definitely intentional; otherwise, one could play e.g. an item to determine the skill for the check and then play another item to add to it. Similarly with weapons or spells.

TLDR, RAW: You can either change the skill to Stealth, or add 1d6, not both. I would probably allow to use both in this instance, but RAW you cannot do it.

[skizzerz]

Whipstitch wrote:

skizzerz wrote:

1. No.

Rulebook p7 wrote:

If a character power applies when a specific thing happens, you may use it each time that happens; otherwise, you may use each power no more than once per check or step.

That power on Zetha's card is not a power that applies when a specific thing happens (such powers always begin with the word "When"), so you can only use it once per check or step.

Jenceslav essentially lays out why they feel the rule (One card per check or step) would allow using her power to both determine the skill used for the check and then to modify the check. You quote the same rule but give no rationale why Jenceslav's reasoning is unsound.

It didn’t need explanation — the question was “can I use the same power twice in a single check” and the rule is very explicit that the answer is “no.”

For an example of something that requires a more nuanced answer: There are two types of steps in the game: steps of a turn and steps of an encounter. Encounters can happen during a step of a turn (but aren’t required to), and checks can happen during a step of an encounter (but again aren’t required to). When inside of multiples of these, the only sensible reading is that the play restrictions apply only to the innermost “check or step” that you are dealing with. This “innermost” rule, despite never being explicitly mentioned in the rulebook, is why you are able to play a weapon power during the first check of a multi-check bane (e.g. Combat 12 THEN Combat 14), and then play the same weapon power again during the second check while exploring, even though both checks happen during the same step of the turn.