So there is a situation that I have been facing as the overlord which renders dark charm pretty useless (at least for attacking purposes) where, after a hero takes his turn attacking, they just unequip the weapon at the end of their turn. Can a hero unequip their weapon at any time after they have began their turn? (Assuming the hero has an equipped weapon.) The rulebook talks of equipping weapons at the start of your turn, but never specifically speaks about when or if you can unequip them after the fact. There are a few weapons in the shop item deck that talk about unequipping after you defeat a monster, so this is why I question this tactic. Any ideas?
Unequipping weapons and Dark Charm
On the hero Summary cards Equip Items is listed as after the start of turn, but before any action are done, so no I dont think they can unequip weapons after fighting.
Equipping and unequipping takes place exclusively at the start of a players turn. Whatever gear they decide to stick with for the turn, they are stuck with until their next turn.
Specific card rules overwrite general rules, but in general, equipping and unequipping takes place during the same phase.
Usually any time a smart-ass thinks that he has found a way to bypass an ability/rule/mechanic its usually against the rules, or its been covered in the errata.
I've actually gone back through the rule book and realized, nowhere in the rules does it even state you may unequip items. Only if you have items in excess, which you then just replace it with equipping something new. I thought it was a little shady already, since there are only 2 item cards in which I currently play with that even mention unequipping.
Well the heroes can trade items with a move action, and traded items are not equipped, and trades can go both ways. After everyone else has gone, couldn't one person just trade to take someone's weapon, then trade it back, with the end result that it is unequipped?
I believe if an item is equipped, it cannot be traded.
If that turns out not to be the rules, I will likely houserule it with my group.
Edited by WhitewingThe text for trading items is:
"
Heroes may give or receive Shop Item cards, Relic cards, and Search
cards to or from each other during a move action. At any point during
his move action, a hero may trade any number of Shop Item cards, Relic
cards, or Search cards with an adjacent hero. Trading does not require an
additional action or the expense of movement points.
A hero must still wait to equip any cards he receives until the start of
his next turn. Heroes cannot trade Class cards (including their starting
equipment) with each other. A hero may give another hero a card without
receiving one in return; likewise, a hero may receive a card without giving
one in return."
There is nothing about trading equipped items. It is a cheesy tactic though, and would be reasonable for a group to decide to change. Note I say group, since the OL has no special authority in descent.
Let em do it and make them pay with fire breath when they are all standing next to one another.
Or let them do it and web trap their asses, you will hit all 4 heroes at once >=) Hitting 4 heroes with a web trap is way more badass than the dark charm card.
I am sure you guys can think of other ways make a hero adjacent to another 3 other heroes pay.
With this tactic they will also have to make extra move actions, spend more fatigue to move into position and so forth. If your heroes want to do it, let them, its within the rules, just find new ways to make them pay for it. I guarantee the first time you let off a web trap that hits all 4 heroes in a single turn they will think twice about standing adjacent to one another to unequipt items during a move action.
Edited by BentoSanWell the heroes can trade items with a move action, and traded items are not equipped, and trades can go both ways. After everyone else has gone, couldn't one person just trade to take someone's weapon, then trade it back, with the end result that it is unequipped?
As cheesy as this sounds, I don't think it would be so bad in practice. It's different from the OP's original scenario in that it requires the heroes to come back to each other before their turns end.
That's dangerous for two reasons - one, it clumps them up and makes them vulnerable to AoE monsters (and Kobolds/Harpies); two, it slows them down in completing their objectives. It's actually quite a lot of effort just to avoid ONE OL card.
This is the sort of situation a dedicated OL should be watching for in terms of playing the players. Let them trade equipped items like this. Play up their fears that you could be holding on to a Dark Charm at any moment. Then pick monsters that do well with clumped up heroes as your open groups and basically focus on slaughtering them with everything BUT Dark Charm. You have other means at your disposal, so if they're only worried about one, use it to teach them the down side of tunnel vision. >=)
Edit: And, naturally, save your actual Dark Charm card for those rare instances where one of the heroes says "aw screw it" and actually keeps his weapon equipped. =P
Edited by Steve-OI don't usually use dark charm to make an attack anyway, I generally use it to force players to move in ways they don't want to.
I don't usually use dark charm to make an attack anyway, I generally use it to force players to move in ways they don't want to.
This is probably one of the best things about this card ! For instance if your blocking heroes and get off a successful dark charm. because the hero is treated as one of your own monsters(for the most part) you can move him through to the other side of your roadblock and slaughter him. Ill intentionally leave a space open in a pack of monsters in order to try to pull this off.