1) My group keeps arguing about how pierce works. Does it let damage through or cancel block?

I.e. If I roll 1 hit and 3 block with pierce 1 does: the defender take 1 damage because the hit "went through" OR does he take no damage because it's still 1 hit v 2 block?

2) When playing Sorry Bout The Mess or any other mission where you don't bring an ally but are given one, does the imperial get to raise the threat dial in the beginning of the mission? For instance we played Sorry About the Mess, where Han Solo is given to the heroes as a 2 threat mission. When the imperial raises double threat and does an optional deployment does he have 4 (2x2) or 16 (12+2x2)?

Thanks!

1) The Rule Reference Guide says: "This keyword allows a figure to ignore a number of [block] results while attacking." I've always played it that it lets damage through regardless of how many blocks there are. If I roll 1 [Damage] and have [Pierce] 1, and you roll 3 block, then you still take 1 damage.

2) The Imperial only gets to add threat if the mission book says they can. In "Sorry about the Mess" it states in the Special Setup box (At the top right of the page): "Increase [Threat] by twice the threat level and resolve an optional deployment. Heroes control Han Solo (Scoundrel) as an ally at no threat cost." If it did not say "at no threat cost" you could make an argument about adding more threat, but they already give you double threat and allow an optional deployment. So the Rebels aren't getting much of an advantage here.

Pierce just reduces the number of blocks equal to the pierce. If you get 1 damage and Pierce 1 against 3 blocks, you still deal 0 damage because 2 blocks are still remaining. It's basically a weaker version of +damage.

These are two very different answers. Does this need to be in the faq?

These are two very different answers. Does this need to be in the faq?

I don't think so. You ignore how many blocks are in pierce. You roll 1 damage and pierce 1 and they roll 3 blocks. You ignore 1 block, which means they have 2 blocks left, resulting in 0 damage dealt. Pierce doesn't make a tunnel for damage to pass through, it just reduces the number of blocks.

EDIT: Before anyone asks "why not just have +damage then and get rid of pierce?" the answer is "balance and more options." If weapons only had +damage than white dice would be much weaker. With pierce in the game, it allows characters to have a way to counter multiple black die or innate armor without making people with a single white dice die in a single attack. It also makes it so there are different options for weapons, for example; do you take the gun with pierce 3 or the gun with +2 damage?

These are two very different answers. Does this need to be in the faq?

I don't think so. You ignore how many blocks are in pierce. You roll 1 damage and pierce 1 and they roll 3 blocks. You ignore 1 block, which means they have 2 blocks left, resulting in 0 damage dealt. Pierce doesn't make a tunnel for damage to pass through, it just reduces the number of blocks.

EDIT: Before anyone asks "why not just have +damage then and get rid of pierce?" the answer is "balance and more options." If weapons only had +damage than white dice would be much weaker. With pierce in the game, it allows characters to have a way to counter multiple black die or innate armor without making people with a single white dice die in a single attack. It also makes it so there are different options for weapons, for example; do you take the gun with pierce 3 or the gun with +2 damage?

Edit: never mind I realize now that you meant it doesn't need to be in the faq.

These are two very different answers. Does this need to be in the faq?

I don't think so. You ignore how many blocks are in pierce. You roll 1 damage and pierce 1 and they roll 3 blocks. You ignore 1 block, which means they have 2 blocks left, resulting in 0 damage dealt. Pierce doesn't make a tunnel for damage to pass through, it just reduces the number of blocks.

EDIT: Before anyone asks "why not just have +damage then and get rid of pierce?" the answer is "balance and more options." If weapons only had +damage than white dice would be much weaker. With pierce in the game, it allows characters to have a way to counter multiple black die or innate armor without making people with a single white dice die in a single attack. It also makes it so there are different options for weapons, for example; do you take the gun with pierce 3 or the gun with +2 damage?

I meant pierce letting in 1 damage vs canceling 1 block are totally different answers.

Edit: never mind I realize now that you meant it doesn't need to be in the faq.

patrickmahan's answer is correct, you ignore a single block icon on the defence dice for each point of Pierce. You still sum total damage points against remaining block icons to discern damage dealt. Hence why pierce is weaker than a straight plus to damage, as any excess Pierce points are wasted or redundant if an opponent didn't roll blocks. The reversal being that weapons with high pierce values are more common and/or often coupled into surges with other effects compared to straight damage bonus.

Yeah, I struggled a bit with this too. It always seemed like Pierce did not do much. I thought we were playing it wrong and was never quite sure. However, Patrickmahan's explanation of why not just +damage is awesome. That really made me understand WHY pierce works like it does. Well done sir.

Thanks,

Duncan