Rules Question: Heroic Leap card w/ multiple hunters in combat

By AlexSkylark, in Fury of Dracula

Posted at
One question about the mechanics involving the card HEROIC LEAP. It says "Play at the start of combat - instead of resolving combat, you take 5 damage, and the vamppire takes 5 damage".


OK, that's all nice and easy when it's a 1v1 combat, but what if there are multiple hunters in combat? Does the WHOLE combat end? or the hunter who played the card gets removed from combat taking 5 dmg and dealing 5 dmg to the vampire and the combat starts normally with the remaining hunters?


Also, if the combat ends, does EVERY HUNTER take 5 damage and deal 5 damage to the vampire, or just the hunter who played the card?


That was the pivot question on our previous game - We found Dracula and ganged up on him (3v1) with 2 turns for him to win (influence was at 12 and 3rd despair token would be placed at the end of the current turn). One of the hunters (Lord Godalming) had a BITE TOKEN in a previous combat, and he wanted to use the card to deal dmg to dracula and withdraw from combat, since if he was bitten again, he would be defeated and Dracula would win. HOWEVER, ending combat means Dracula would escape to sea in his turn before we had the chance to engage him again, and we would be unable to battle him again before he won the game (he had 11 damage, counting the 5 from heroic leap - He'd take 2 dmg from entering sea, and then 1 in the subsequent turn, but the "Fury of Dracula" hability would trigger and give him the influence he needed to win before he died.


So, one more time, the question is, how Heroic Leap works when there are multiple hunters in combat? If the combat didn't end, and just Lord Godalming would deal dmg and be removed from combat, then the other 2 hunters had a shot at killing Dracula before he won.

Posted at

Having never played the game before but reading up on the rules since I recently purchased the game, it's my opinion the heroic leap card effects the single hunter. My reason for this is specifically the word 'you' on the card. In my gaming experience "you" generally means the individual player who triggered the effect. If the card was intended to end the entire combat with any and all hunters the card would suggest that. In this case heroic leap is taking the individual hunter out of the fight.

Having watched a lot of reviews and some game play videos Dracula is in a lot of trouble if he's getting ganged up on. If it was a 2 on 1 fight then heroic leap would make the fight 1 on 1 which is more advantageous for Dracula as he would not have 1 automatic hunter card trigger against him each round.

Someone else may have a different opinion but I intend to play the card that way when I get my copy unless I hear otherwise.

Posted at

Assuming you've related the exact wording of the card, then that's how I'd play it - "instead of resolving combat". You don't do combat - at all - regardless of how many hunters are present. Rules-as-written.