The Prince's Plan, Littlefinger's Meddling & Fealty.

By AkodoGilador, in Rules Questions

The Reaction on The Prince's Plan

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Reaction: After you lose a challenge, pay 1 gold to return The Prince's Plan from your discard pile to your hand.

has two gold costs: the 2 gold cost of the Event and the 1 gold cost in the text. The Rules Reference states, on p5:

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If multiple costs for a single card or ability require payment, those costs must be paid simultaneously.

which implies that these are paid as separate costs, not combined into one. Am I correct in thinking that Littlefinger's Meddling will reduce each of these costs by 2? What about Fealty?

Alex

Edited by AkodoGilador

LF and Fealty will only reduce the cost to play The Prince's Plan. Its Reaction is a separate ability that has nothing to do with playing it initially.

Specifically, the definition of "Cost" states:

"A card's gold cost is the numerical value that must be paid to marshal or play the card."

When you trigger the "Reaction" ability on The Prince's Plan, you are not actually playing the event - which, as defined in the LTP guide, only happens when you are triggering an event from your hand. You are merely triggering an ability on the card while it is in your discard pile.

Because you are not playing the event card, you are not required to pay the gold cost printed in the upper left-hand corner of the card. Similarly, because you are not playing the event card, you cannot use "lower the cost to play..." effects - such as Littlerfinger's Meddling or Fealty - to reduce the cost required to trigger the ability on the card while it is in the discard pile.

Note also that any cost written as part of a triggered ability on an event card is never considered part of the cost to play the event. Only the printed cost of the card (in the upper left-hand corner) is considered the cost to play the event. As such, the ability's separate cost can never be reduced by "lower the cost to play..." effects - such as Littlefinger's Meddling or Fealty - even when the ability cost is paid at the same time as the event's (gold) cost to play.

Edited by ktom