Jan says "Once per round, when a friendly ship at range 1-3 performs a focus action or would be assigned a focus token, you may assign an evade token instead."

I understand this to mean that I "assign an evade token instead" of what triggered Jan's ability, namely "performing a focus action".

Therefore, should I perform a focus action with a friendly ship and choose to activate Jan, I don't actually "perform the focus action". I "assign an evade token instead" during my action phase with that friendly ship.

If this is true, then when Jake Farrell is the friendly ship in question, "After you perform a focus action or are assigned a focus token, you may perform a free boost or barrel roll action" doesn't trigger, because I didn't perform a focus action or assign a focus token with him. All I did was assign an evade token during my action phase.

Others I talk to, however, have interpreted this as Jan assigning a token "instead of" just the portion of the action in which the token is placed. They argue that the focus action has still been "performed", there's just a different token in play at the end of it.

Opinions?

No, I disagree. You still took the Focus Action, it just didn't give you a focus token, it gave you an evade token. It doesn't mean you can take another focus action, but it would trigger abilities like Jake's.

We're getting into that murky territory again, where sometimes a word means one thing and sometimes it means another. In this case it's "assign" versus "place," so we have to ask ourselves which one FFG actually means. If they specifically meant "assign," then it seems like that would be a replacement effect, and you would be right. If they simply meant "place," then those other people you talked to would be right. I also can't help but feel that there's a line missing at the end which should read "... instead of placing a focus token."

My big problem with your interpretation, GBV, is that if the "instead" isn't targeting the triggering text, why doesn't it specify a different target? For example:

"Once per round, when a friendly ship at range 1-3 performs a focus action or would be assigned a focus token, you may assign an evade token instead of a focus token."

All I did was add 12 letters at the end. It isn't like they ran out of space on the card, and I find it unlikely that they just forgot to specify the targeting text.

... and I find it unlikely that they just forgot to specify the targeting text.

I don't.

I hadn't considered that interpretation before. I can certainly see how the text could be read that way, but I a reasonably certain that the intention is that you are performing a focus action and simply get a different token for it, so that jake will, in fact trigger.

Just to be ultra clear. Can we all at least agree that if jake doesn't trigger in this case he would be free to perform a focus action again with PTL or some such, and that if he can't perform the focus action again then clearly he has performed the focus action already and his ability can trigger off of Jan's effect.

Just to be ultra clear. Can we all at least agree that if jake doesn't trigger in this case he would be free to perform a focus action again with PTL or some such, and that if he can't perform the focus action again then clearly he has performed the focus action already and his ability can trigger off of Jan's effect.

I can't speak for "we all", but I would agree with that.

I find myself agreeing with Gryphon on this. You performed a "Focus action"; Jan simply changed which token you received as a result of performing that action. She doesn't go back in time and retroactively transform your entire action. Thus Jake's ability will trigger off the action, and you're not allowed to do another Focus action in that round.

I find myself agreeing with Gryphon on this. You performed a "Focus action"; Jan simply changed which token you received as a result of performing that action. She doesn't go back in time and retroactively transform your entire action. Thus Jake's ability will trigger off the action, and you're not allowed to do another Focus action in that round.

But you don't have to go "back in time", because Jan doesn't happen "after" the action, like Jake does. She happens "when" the action, and she happens "instead of" the action.

What if Jake had PTL, performed a focus action (Jan swaps for an evade), then an evade action?

I think you should be able to take your focus action, get your focus token swapped and have it count as a focus action being taken.

EDIT: rereading the card, you still have to perform the focus action for Jan to take effect. It doesn't say "you may take an evade action instead," it specifies token.

So, for all intents and purposes, I would say Jan doesn't change the action you took, just the token.

I find myself agreeing with Gryphon on this. You performed a "Focus action"; Jan simply changed which token you received as a result of performing that action. She doesn't go back in time and retroactively transform your entire action. Thus Jake's ability will trigger off the action, and you're not allowed to do another Focus action in that round.

But you don't have to go "back in time", because Jan doesn't happen "after" the action, like Jake does. She happens "when" the action, and she happens "instead of" the action.

But for her ability to have triggered in the first place, a Focus action needed to be taken *. You're saying she stops that action, which means her ability never triggered, which means she never got to stop the action, which means her ability triggers again, etc, etc.

* Jan says "When that ship performs a Focus action", not "When that ship would perform a Focus action". Her trigger is the action being performed in full, not just the attempt. Compare her with Captain Yorr.

The real mystery is, how do we pronounce his name? Is it like Collin Farrell, or Pharrell Williams?

And what about Garven Dreis or Kyle Katarn (pilot)? The "assigned a focus token" part of Jan is under the "would" caluse even if the focus action is not.

It's just swapping the token. It still requires a ship to perform a focus action, or be assigned a focus token for her to trigger and swap it for an evade token.

How much simpler things would have been if they had put that on the card...

"Once per round, after a friendly ship at range 1-3 performs a focus action or is assigned a focus token, you may change that focus token to an evade token."

I find myself agreeing with Gryphon on this. You performed a "Focus action"; Jan simply changed which token you received as a result of performing that action. She doesn't go back in time and retroactively transform your entire action. Thus Jake's ability will trigger off the action, and you're not allowed to do another Focus action in that round.

But you don't have to go "back in time", because Jan doesn't happen "after" the action, like Jake does. She happens "when" the action, and she happens "instead of" the action.

* Jan says "When that ship performs a Focus action", not "When that ship would perform a Focus action". Her trigger is the action being performed in full, not just the attempt. Compare her with Captain Yorr.