Noose of Vines says:
Response: After a character defends an attack against the attached enemy, if the defending character has more remaining hit points than the attached enemy, add Noose of Vines and attached enemy to the victory display.
If the defending character is destroyed, do you
1) consider its HP as 0 for the purpose of this card, or
2) become unable to trigger the response (because there is no "defending character" on the table when the attack is finished?)
I would tentatively assume something like (2) since there is no defending character, although the response might start triggering and fizzle when it got to evaluating the "remaining hitpoints".
But am also quite curious about when it would matter?
I would say 2. But I would also say it doesn't matter because the remaining hit points of the attached enemy can't be less than 0 anyway.
Well it would matter because... if the defending character's HP value is not "zero," but rather <null value>, then....
Assuming your Mumak's HP is 0, A dead character might produce this:
If <null value> is equal to or greater than <0>, capture this enemy.
Or it might produce this:
If <0> is equal to or greater than <0>, capture this enemy.
Depending on how you understand "the defending character's HP" in a scenario where the defending character was killed. In one interpretation, you can't win unless the character survives.
Noose of Vines doesn't say 'equal' though. Having the same remaining hit points won't do anything for you, you need to have more than.
I agree with pocketwraith, the card text says 'more remaining hitpoints', so the question feels somewhat moot.
For readers not familiar with the quest, the Enemy this card is attached to is indestructible, so it can remain in play when it has zero remaining hitpoints. But defenders can't, they so need at least one hitpoint or they really can't access this effect.
All the other Capture objectives use the phase "equal to or greater than" and I actually thought the Noose was the same way because I never read it carefully. Good to know.
Yeah, I see now. That was my problem. My brain processed that as "equal to or greater than."