I realize this question seems dumb, but it is arising from this combination:

Obsidian Scalemail says "You may perform only 1 -> Skill or Ability per turn"

Spirited Scythe say: "-> You may perform an attack targeting each monster adjacent to you. Each monster rolls defense dice separately. Each monster that suffers at least 1 <3 is bleeding."

Could you attack twice with the Scythes text since it is an attack? Or is the text an ability? Is an ability only what's written on a character card?

As a group we have agreed the spirit of the OSM card seems to indicate only one of those arrows, but we'd like to put it to bed one way or the other.

Which is a long way of asking: What, exactly, is an ability?

I think the scale mail would count the use of the Scythe as a -> skill/ability, even if these terms aren't precisely defined in the rule book.

Any action performed with the -> symbol would meet the criteria in my view.

All text on cards and Hero sheets are referred to as abilities.

Thus, everything that is printed on a card and has an action symbol in front is affected by the restrictions imposed by Obsidian Scalemail. However, the basic move, attack, picking up tokens and rest actions as well as quest specific actions (e.g. operation a lever etc) are not restricted by Obsidian Scalemail.

Sadgit, not to disagree, but to confirm- you're sure about normal actions not being limited?

I read skill as class card, ability as basically anything else a character does, including defaults. (For example, if a card said ,"you cannot use surge abilities" I'd conclude you couldn't spend a surge to recover fatigue.)

I guess it's not obvious to me that "rest" isn't an "action ability".

Just to be sure that we are talking about the same think here:

The text on Obsidian Scalemail should be read as: "You may only perform 1 [action] skill or [action] ability per turn." It does not restrict the use of non-action abilities, right?

Although I cannot find any specific FFG answer on the definition of "ability", in the rule book standard actions are never referred to as abilities. In the context of Obsidian Scalemail I think there are two things that support the stance that default actions are not considered to be abilities.

1. Losing half of a heroes actions each turn would make it a incredible bad item.
2. If all actions were restricted why not just write "You may only perform 1 action per turn."?

Your question on "surge to recover 1 fatigue" is interesting. But, no, I would not consider "spend 1 surge to recover 1 fatigue" to be an ability. But again, I have no hard proof for this.

Right- to be clear, there is a definite difference between "ability" and "[action] ability". I am not disputing that point. I only brought up the fatigue recovery surge ability as an unrelated example of a default ability vs one granted by additional card.

Obsidian Scalemail puts a limit on actions performed. These might be skill actions (ex., Oath of Honor, Terracall) because "skill" explicitly refers to class cards. These also might be action abilities such as heroic feats which cost an action (like Jain Fairwood's) or condition action abilities (discard stun).

My question is, what is your reasoning for excluding common actions (rest, move, revive) from this list- or at least quest actions? In my understanding, "ability" is a very general term which could include those actions.

Genuine curiousity, I may have missed a rule/ruling somewhere.

As to why it wouldn't have been written differently... I'd have to think up a good response to that. I'm not sure.

6 minutes ago, Zaltyre said:

Right- to be clear, there is a definite difference between "ability" and "[action] ability". I am not disputing that point.

Yep, got that. Was just making sure that we both do not interpret the card as ""You may perform only 1 [action] skill or 1 ability per turn." In theory this interpretation would also be possible but most likely not according to the RAI.

Quote

My question is, what is your reasoning for excluding common actions (rest, move, revive) from this list- or at least quest actions? In my understanding, "ability" is a very general term which could include those actions.

No hard evidence here, just the fact that default actions are never referred to as abilities in the rule book and FAQs.

Hah ... I just found something that might actually support your stance in the FAQs:

Quote

Q: Can “Frenzy” be used to perform actions that include attacks, such as the
elemental’s “Fire” ability?
A: No. “Frenzy” provides the monster’s basic attack and cannot be used
for other abilities.

The "for other abilities" could be interpreted in a way that the basic attack is in fact considered an ability. But I am not 100% convinced.

6 hours ago, Zaltyre said:

Obsidian Scalemail puts a limit on actions performed. These might be skill actions (ex., Oath of Honor, Terracall) because "skill" explicitly refers to class cards. These also might be action abilities such as heroic feats which cost an action (like Jain Fairwood's) or condition action abilities (discard stun).

My question is, what is your reasoning for excluding common actions (rest, move, revive) from this list- or at least quest actions? In my understanding, "ability" is a very general term which could include those actions.

Genuine curiousity, I may have missed a rule/ruling somewhere.

Obsidian Scalemail puts a limit of one per turn to skills and abilities with an arrow. Common actions don't have an arrow in front of them, therefore Obsidian Scalemail doesn't limit common actions. I think it's that simple.

The rulebook says there are two possible ways of saying something is an action on page 7: Special: Different cards or quests may provide heroes with unique actions to perform. These actions are either clearly stated "as an action" or noted with a -> .

If it is noted with an arrow, Obsidian Scalemail limits it; if it isn't, it doesn't.