OK so played our first game tonight and one thing confused me:

when monsters have an action with an arrow before it on the back of their cards along with the surge clarifications (indicating it is an action), when do they use them? They dont seem to be referenced in the action 'flow chart' (ie monster engages closest hero, then monster retreats etc)

Zombies seemed to have a reference to 'grab' in the info pane of the app which said something like 'The zombie grabs an adjacent hero who is not immobilized', is this instead of an attack? is it prioritized above a normal attack?

Some monsters had such actions that were not referenced in any way on the actions and surge info panel (like the ettins with their throw action)

Im probably missing something really simple, I reread the rules but any clarification would be great!

Thansk in advance

Any monster ability that requires an action instead of a surge will show up in the list of steps when activating a monster group. Not all the time, but it will be perfectly clear when it does.

For example, with the Zombies 'grab' ability, that normally pops up as the group special rule with something like 'immediately before activating, each zombie performs 'grab' on an adjacent hero'

For the Ettins and barghests, it's usually in the action flow chart. A common ettins one I see is;

1) attack the nearest hero

2) engage the closest hero

3) use throw on an adjacent hero with the lowest strength

Either way, all of the action abilities are really easy to identify when to use them. It literally tells imyou in the activa Ion info, hence why it's not in the info panel ect. Some monster groups rarely use them, others like the aforementioned barghests try to use them every other activation or so.

Hope that helps and is clear.

Oh that's great thanks, I guess that they randomly never appeared in the flow charts so I was unsure, thanks

Keep in mind that the activation window at the top is a global effect that always occurs. This can often provide additional abilities and/or actions that monsters normally don't get. You always do these.

Then, in the lower window is the actual command tree that you follow from top to bottom, processing two of them, IF POSSIBLE, for each monster.

Can a monster do an action like they're as well as a normal attack in one activation?

The effects and actons given in the special effects box (at the top of the monster actvaton window) take precedence of any rules prohibiting those effects to take place, e.g. monsters may perform two attacks (even without Ravage) and monsters with Shambling may move twice.

Also keep in mind that some special actions can only be performed by the Master, so they may not be listed on the Minion's action list.

For example, although Grab is on the Zombie's card, you will notice that only the master zombie can actually use Grab.

I didn't realize what comes up in the special effects box would be an extra action. For example, the special box might say that a goblin will perform a move action and retreat after attacking.

This goblins action tree starts with spot, then attack.

Say the goblin had to move and used up 4 out of 5 move points to get to a spot location.

That's action 1 with a leftover move point.

Action 2 it attacks.

Obviously it would then move it's remaining point away in retreat, but would I give it another 5 move points of retreat? Or not because it already did two actions?

The top box always happens. In addition, it supersedes any normal rules. So, it can potentially allow a monster to attack multiple times even if it does not have the Ravage ability. It can allow a monster to move multiple times, even if it has the Shambling ability.

In your example, it will move and retreat after all is said and done.

To answer the question though, in that situation I believe the goblin would get an extra move action, and thus would have 5 more movement points to retreat with.

To answer the question though, in that situation I believe the goblin would get an extra move action, and thus would have 5 more movement points to retreat with.

Yes. If my comment was not clear, this makes it so ...

Does that mean that minions can get the special abilities of the master for the turn if it is listed in the special effects box (at the top of the monster activation window) ?

Also some times it shows nothing for the monsters when they get a surge other times it has info. If it has no info on spending a surge do I just use the card?

Yes and Yes.

Keep in mind that with no other direction, and all things being equal, monsters will always deal maximum amount of damage.

No and no.

Unless the text says that the minions get the abilities, they do not. It will at times say so.

I have never seen a monster with surge abilities that were not listed in the RTL information, if there are it is probably a bug.

13 hours ago, BruceLGL said:

No and no.

Unless the text says that the minions get the abilities, they do not. It will at times say so.

I have never seen a monster with surge abilities that were not listed in the RTL information, if there are it is probably a bug.

I am sorry, but both of these responses are clearly wrong.

RTL Rules, page 7: Special Effects

Each activation features a special effect that provides benefits or particular behaviors to the monsters of the group . (Emphasis mine).

The example they give is "Each attack gains +1 Surge". This doesn't mention masters or minions (it is not limited), so it provides that ability to ALL monsters of the entire group (both minions and masters). The same holds true if it states a given monster ability that typically is only associated with the master; all monsters of the group get that ability. If, however, it specifically states that all masters or all minions get some ability, then it is clearly limited to them.

As for monsters with surge abilities not listed in the RTL information, this has occurred MANY times for me (although it is limited to certain monster groups). RTL Rules page 10: Attacking

Generally, a monster attempts to use surges on special abilities (such as inflicting a condition), followed by additional damage. However, the following rules take priority over the order provided in the info panel:

• The figure always spends any surges that prevent the attack from being a miss. This includes gaining additional Range when necessary but also game effects that require surges to be spent in order to not miss.
• The figure always spends surges to defeat a hero, if possible. This can cause it to ignore surges with special abilities in favor of those that cause additional damage.
• The figure will not spend a surge that has no effect. For example, a monster will not inflict a condition upon a hero who already has that
condition.
• If a figure, such as a hero, doesn’t have an info panel for its surge order and is forced to perform an attack, it focuses upon dealing the
maximum amount of damage, still following the other instructions in this list.