What's the census here on Farlander ability?

By Krynn007, in X-Wing Rules Questions

So she attacks, rolls 1 hit and three miss with hlc and she is stressed.

Can she still spend her stress even though she didn't roll any eyes.

I heard some say yes, others say no.

I myself am not 100% sure, but I was called on this last week playing over at a friends house.

I rolled 5 dice, hlc and opportunist and scored only 2 hit, 3 blanks.

Next round I had to do a green maneuver to clear her stress since I didn't roll any eyes

While a counter-argument can certainly be made, until we get an entail from frank or a FAQ entry I would have to go with the precedent set by garven et.al. That a token can be spent to modify 0 dice.

+1 for allowing it, simply from the precedent of Garven being able to modify zero results.

A ship may spend a focus token during an
attack even if there are no {eyeball} results to
change (including an attack where no dice are
rolled, such when a ship has a faceup Blinded
Pilot Damage card)

Also, Farlander is a he.

Most of the arguments that he can't are of the form "He's spending a stress token and nothing has spent a stress token to do anything before so it may be different than every other spend in the game."

I don't find it all that compelling - you could easily argue that the stress token is red but everything else you spend is green (or blue+red) so it's different.

We have a strongly-established standard that "all" includes zero, so he can spend it.

I concur, by the current wording, he can spend the token without eyeballs on the roll.

Yep, based on precedent you can spend it to reroll 0 dice.

This is one I can agree and disagree with. On one hand the rules indeed state you can spend the token to modify zero dice. On the other hand, it does seem like a cheesy way to get rid of stress if you didn't roll any focus results, especially when everyone else has to rely on green maneuvers to get rid of stress. We all know how important stress is in this game, but this one just seems like a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

Personally I'd like to have seen the card read:

"When attacking, you may remove 1 stress token to change 1 or more of your {focus} results to {hit} results."

On the other hand, it does seem like a cheesy way to get rid of stress...

Which you can stop dead by getting out of his arc. He is only PS7 after all.

...especially when everyone else has to rely on green maneuvers to get rid of stress.

Hobbie, Porkins, Tycho, and anyone flying alongside Yorr and/or a Wingman would like a word with you.

Which isn't a whole lot, I admit, but to say that Farlander is the only pilot who can cheat his way around a stress token is incorrect.

Edited by DR4CO

Which you can stop dead by getting out of his arc. He is only PS7 after all.

Rather amazing that since Wave 4 hit, seven becomes an "only" PS value...

OK, he's not the only pilot that can rid himself of stress and I'm not disputing being able to get rid of the stress token if you actually roll some focus results. I think it's quite a cool ability in that respect. It's just when you don't roll any focus and can still get rid of the stress that seems a bit cheesy.

Clearly the mere fact of squeezing his trigger button is enough to relax him.

Hobbie, Porkins, Tycho, and anyone flying alongside Yorr and/or a Wingman would like a word with you.

Which isn't a whole lot, I admit, but to say that Farlander is the only pilot who cheat his way around a stress token is incorrect.

Having a special ability that nullifies or bypasses a disadvantage is one thing. Having a special ability that gives you an added benefit for bypassing a disadvantage us the part that rubs people the wrong way.

This is one I can agree and disagree with. On one hand the rules indeed state you can spend the token to modify zero dice. On the other hand, it does seem like a cheesy way to get rid of stress if you didn't roll any focus results, especially when everyone else has to rely on green maneuvers to get rid of stress. We all know how important stress is in this game, but this one just seems like a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

Personally I'd like to have seen the card read:

"When attacking, you may remove 1 stress token to change 1 or more of your {focus} results to {hit} results."

Oh heck yes I agree, but that doesn't change how it is worded and the previous precedents that have been set.

As was pointed out in another thread, Farlander actually gets better when shooting at an Imperial ship with a Rebel Captive on board.

DAKKADAKKADAKKA

Most of us believe Farlander's ability has one foot well over the line, but the wording on it strongly suggests that it can be used with zero eyeballs. So unless it is FAQed or Errataed, that's how it should be probably applied.

That's kind of what I thought, but I guess they way I was told in garvens card it reads "after spending a focus token" but doesn't specify you actually have to roll any eye.

So according to the rules you can spend the token even though you didn't roll a focus

Farlander ability reads as "remove one stress to change all eye ball results to hit"

The difference being that actually specifies that you need to have rolled the eye.

I can see it both ways which is why I let it played out that way.

Which is why I was wondering what others thought.

If the majority seems to agree you can spend it without rolling the results, then I will say otherwise next time

Unless FAQ.

Edited by Krynn007

"If he chose, Keyan Farlander could potentially perform the difficult Koiogran-turn maneuver every round."

I think FFG has made their intent pretty clear.

I guess I've just never been comfortable with the notion of spending a token to do nothing other than the act of spending the token. I still think there should be something to spend a token on. And spending it to reroll no dice, or change results that you don't actually have, seems a bit cheesy.

It's one of the little things in this game that just doesn't sit well for me.

That's kind of what I thought, but I guess they way I was told in garvens card it reads "after spending a focus token" but doesn't specify you actually have to roll any eye.

That's not quite right. Garven's ability actually has nothing to do with his being able to spend the Focus token. The actual effect of a Focus token is exactly the same as Farlander's ability (ie. change all of your [eye] results to hit results), so anyone can spend a Focus to change any number of dice, including 0. It's just that, most of the time, you don't have a reason to. Garven gives you one.

Edited by DR4CO

As much as I like cheese, every one has their own taste in cheese. So what taste like cheese to you might not taste like cheese to some one else. That is why we have rules to define what cheese actualy is, no mater what is taste like in your mouth. So I'd be very carefull of leting my perception of what is "cheesy" influence any rules interpertations. ;)

On that note, I'd have to fully agrea with the "all includes zero" crowd and let Farlander get rid of his stress for changeing all his zero eyes to hits.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing for or against the ability. I understand that "all" includes zero and that you can spend a token for no gain. Some pilots gain more than others from the ability to spend a token, even if they are effectively doing nothing with it. It's just a pet peeve I have.

When you think about it, how many things would change if a ruling came out stating that "all" now means "1 or more" and not zero. No more spending tokens to alter zero dice. I don't think it would break the game at all, but it would make for some significant changes in play.

Hobbie, Porkins, Tycho, and anyone flying alongside Yorr and/or a Wingman would like a word with you.

Which isn't a whole lot, I admit, but to say that Farlander is the only pilot who cheat his way around a stress token is incorrect.

Having a special ability that nullifies or bypasses a disadvantage is one thing. Having a special ability that gives you an added benefit for bypassing a disadvantage us the part that rubs people the wrong way.

You mean like Soontir Fell?

Soontir doesn't bypass the penalty. He gets and advantage, but still has to cope with the penalty.

Farlander both gets the advantage and eliminates the penalty at the same time.

Farlander does still lose his ability to take other actions, so he does still face some of the costs of the stress.

Farlander does still lose his ability to take other actions, so he does still face some of the costs of the stress.

Depends on how you get the stress. If you get it off a red move, then yes. If you get it off something like Push the Limit or Opportunist, he doesn't really notice the stress at all.

Edited by DR4CO