I'll just cut right to the chase here, citing the problem and then giving the specific instance in which it arose.

Astarra's Hero Ability reads as such: "Glyphs activate when Runewitch Astarra moves within 6 spaces of them." The issue we disagree over is this: If the Glyph is currently undiscovered and out f line-of-sight, but the area in which the glpyh resides has been dicovered, is the glpyh placed on the map and activated if Astarra is within six spaces of said glpyh?

This is what happened specifically. The heroes were in one Area of a map, a door to their South with monsters on both ends. The Overlord then moved one monster to open the door, giving the heroes line of sight into the room, but none of the monsters, items, or the glpyh in the room. The glpyh in the room was still within six spaces of Runewithc Astarra, but the Area had not yet been explored by the heroes, and the glyph had (obviously) not been discovered yet.

Once again, would Runewitch Astarra activate glyphs on the map that are within 6 squares, but have not yet been discovered?

LeonJuliano said:

The first thing is that I think you are using the term "explored" incorrectly. And I'm confused about the 2 areas. You are saying the heroes are in Area 1. There is a second area (Area 2) on the other side of a door. Monsters on both sides. How can this be? Until the heroes open the door to Area 2, nothing should be placed on the map - no monsters, no glyph, etc. You just set up the floorplans blank with nothing on them.

Then, when the heroes open the door, everything is placed on the map, whether in LOS or not. A monster may not open a door to an unrevealed area. There is nothing in the game to cover an area being "explored". Once the door is open, the area is revealed and is now a full part of the game. The heroes do not need to step into the area to "explore" it.

So to answer your question. No - Runewitch Astara would not activate a glyph in an area that hasnt been revealed. Mainly because that area should be empty and not actually have anything on the map at all until the door is opened. After that, yes - if it is within 6 spaces.

Well, one could argue that Astarra actually has to MOVE while within 6 spaces from the glyph., i.e., if the glyph is right behind a door to an unrevealed area and some hero opens the door, then the glyph might not automatically be activated.

Oh, nice can of worms here: If Astarra moves within 6 spaces but is killed by a trap on the first space within 6 spaces, is the glpyh activated or not? Can be crucial in a Vanilla quest...

Parathion said:

I would argue, that she 'does' activate the glyph (if it is during the heroes' turn), refering to the rules of simultaneously triggered actions. In which case the current player decides on the order.

edderkoppen said:

That rule actually exists explicitly only for effects "at the start of a player´s turn". But I guess I would extend it as well in this case.

Parathion said:

The glyph trips as soon as she moves into the space. So if you play a "empty space" trigger trap on her, she would have had to move to get into that space so it activates the glyph.

LeonJuliano said:

An area of the map is either revealed or not revealed. If it is not yet revealed (ie: no hero has yet gained LoS to any space in that area), then the area is not a playable part of the board and nothing can affect anything in there until it is revealed. Once the area is revealed, everything inside is set up as it appears in the quest guide. Even the stuff that heroes don't have LoS to yet. As long as they can see one square in the area, the whole thing is set up. Once it has been set up, objects and figures in the area are affected by all normal rules, which in this case means Astarra will activate the rune.

Also, monsters cannot open doors to unrevealed areas. Its unclear to me whether or not the area had already been revealed, but take note of that in case it matters.

Parathion said:

I agree with Big Remy on this one. Even if you decide to force Astarra to wait until she moves to activate the glyph (which is a bit anal on the rules IMHO), she must enter a space before anything can kill her for moving there, and once she enters the space the glyph will be activated because she moved "within 6 spaces" of the glyph.