Constant abilities which change STR

By Ikaros, in 2. AGoT Rules Discussion

Hello.

There are many constant abilities which change STR,

for example Dragonbone Dagger

- "Attached character gets +1 STR and deadly"

or the old plot Don't Wake the Dragon :

- "Non-Targaryen characters get -1 STR while attacking or defending".

Can I use these constant abilities to trigger House Brax footmen response:

- "Response: after House Brax footmen's STR has been raised or lowered, choose and kneel a character with STR 3 or lower."

For istance, when House Brax footmen is declared attacking and there is Don't Wake the Dragon revealed, their STR change

from 3 to 2.

Or, when I attach Dragonbone Dagger to them (ignoring the "No attachments" keyword for example purposes), their STR change from 3 to 4.

But, constant abilities have no point of initiation, by definition.

So, can I trigger the House Brax response?

Thanks.

True, constant abilities do not have a point of initiation by definition. But when a character's STR is raised or lowered is defined by the application of a new STR modifier to the character, not necessarily by the initiation of a "gains/lowers STR" effect. So responses to raising and lowering STR can be triggered when constant STR modifying effects first become active on the character.

As such, House Brax Footmen can use their Response in the action window in which a new STR modifier was first applied to them, no matter what the source. As you say, that would be the Response step of the window in which Dragonbone Dagger was attached to them (if that were possible), or the Response step of the window in which they were declared as an attacker or defender while Don't Wake the Dragon is revealed.

One caveat to this: A recent FAQ clarified that a response to raising or lowering a character's FAQ can only be used when there is both a new modifier applied AND there is a corresponding change in the character's effective STR. So, for example, if House Brax Footmen's STR was already 0 and you declared them as an attacker with Don't Wake the Dragon out, they would not be able to use their Response because, even though a new -1 STR modifier was applied (and their calculated STR is technically -1 if you wanted to tack on another +X STR effect), their effective STR doesn't change (-1 is treated as 0 for all game purposes other than counting the character's STR). That's a change from the CCG rules, but I'm not sure if you are following the LCG FAQs when playing with the CCG cards.

Thank you again.

And, what if there is Hear me Roar revealed:

- "Characters without an Intrigue icon get -1 STR".

If House Brax footmen is already in play when I reveal this plot, clearly it works.

But, what about me playing House Brax footmen from hand while Hear me Roar is already revealed?

Do House Brax footmen enter in play with 3 STR and then their STR is lowered to 2 (givin' me the opportunity to trigger their response),

or do House Brax footmen enter in play with 2 STR directly?

Thank you.

Technically, the plot can't apply until the card is in play, so the Footmen enter play, the -1 STR modifier is applied, and their STR is lowered. However, the STR reduction all happens instantaneously upon the card entering play, so it's not like there is an actionable point in time where the Footmen are 3 STR instead of 2.

That said, the conditions for their Response are met: A "-X STR" modifier was applied for the first time and there was an effective change in the character's STR. So the Response can be triggered.

Thank you