So now we're at "give" vs "gain"
Nope. This isn't a waste of time at all.
Sarcasm noted. We all know what Dostoyevsky had to say about it.
Would you care to explain your point? My stance is that a character who is not given a shield doesn't gain that shield. Everyone else in the thread seems to think that a character who is not given a shield due to it being ignored has still gained that shield. I have yet to see an explanation that reconciles that discrepancy.
My points have had nothing to whether he gains the shield or it is ignored, but the timing of when the checks are actually made vs his ability.
Per the example in the rulebook, his ability triggers when he's about to gain a shield.
So the order of events for adding shields seems to be:
1. Play the action or resolve the shield die, thus the character is about to gain a shield. (This is the point where I contend his ability triggers)
2. Check how many shields the character has.
3. Give the character shields, ignoring any over 3.
It doesn't all just fizzle right away, there's a structure and sequence of events that plays our when you do anything. There's nothing saying you can't target him with that gives him shields while he's at 3, so you still have to go through the steps of granting the shields, whether they are ignored or not, they aren't ignored until you check how many he has.
I think I see the core issue here. You think he's about to gain a shield as soon as you say you're going to give him one... regardless of whether or not he ultimately will gain that shield. I think he's about to gain a shield immediately before he gains a shield. The trigger is gaining one or more shields... not being given one or more shields.
Do you have rules text allowing you to ignore the portion of giving a character a shield where you decide whether or not it actually gains that shield or if you ignore it?
Well that depends.
Do *you* have rules text allowing you to skip to the end of the queue to influence triggers at the start of it?
Um... sure. The trigger condition is "gains 1 or more shields". I'm resolving the entire shield process, stopping immediately before the character gains 1 or more shields. I'm unclear as to why you're hopping out of the queue BEFORE you've completed all the steps that lead up to meeting your trigger condition.
Can you please provide the page number for that rule so I can read it?
Certainly.
Page 16 under the Triggered Abilities header.
"A triggered ability has a trigger condition and an effect. When a triggered ability meets its trigger condition, the ability resolves."
It then goes on to explain the difference between 'before' and 'after' abilities. That's not entirely relevant though, because my argument is that the trigger condition is never met. I'm not worried about when the ability is resolved. I'm worried about meeting the trigger condition, which is clearly the prerequisite for resolving the ability.
For Qui-Gon's trigger condition to be met, he would need to gain a shield. Simply being given a shield doesn't necessarily mean he will gain one. Shield tokens have additional rules, including the fact that they are sometimes ignored. My contention remains that if a shield token is ignored, the character it was given to can't be said to have gained it.