On the card "Make an examle", a condition is "can count 8 strength". My guess is that it means if you have a total of 8 str on your team, knelt or otherwise. Could someone please clarify?

Also, as a noob still anxiously awaiting "the boat" on the core set, I wanted to make sure I was reading the PDF rules right. When declaring an challenge during your initiative on the challenge phase, you declare a challenge, resolve it, and THEN decide whether to declare another challenge of a different type, right? Or do you have to declare from the beginning of your challenge initiative who you plan to attack with?

anavasoothed said:

Not quite. For one, the text is not " can count 8 STR," it's "win a challenge and count 8 STR." So you have to have 8 total STR participating in the challenge. Said another way, all of your attacking characters (plus bonuses) must add up to at least 8 when you resolve the challenge.

anavasoothed said:

Challenges are initiated separately. You resolve the first before you choose to initiate the second.

Awesome, thank you sir. I've so far just played civil war mode using Summoner Wars tokens as power tokens. Because I've only bought what me FLGS had (one chapter pack and the Princes of the sun expansion). It's been great fun, but those questions came up. One more creeping concern is about response cards. I get the phase restrictions etc. But do Responses ever intercede another responses effect that was recently played? Or are their pitfalls I need to look out for?

A more specific question, Can you play, say, Rumors of war after the opponent has declared defenders?

Yes You can play like this. Look at the Official FAQ. You have Player Actions Window after the Defenders are declared, before Challenge is resolved.

ktom said:

I thought that with this card the total STR in the challenge matters not just the attackers (or mine). So I thought if I attack with 4 STR my oppo is defendig with 4 STR I can play this.

Rozy said:

"Response: after you win a challenge and count 8 or more total STR, claim 3 power for your House."

The card is specifically talking about what you yourself have done. If you count 4STR on attack and your opponent counts 4STR on defense, you have only counted 4STR, not the 8 required by the event.

Your total STR in the challenge is all the STR counted on your side of the challenge. The reference to "total" STR lets you include non-specific modifiers - like the +3 from the titles - in your count. It does not let you include your opponent's defending STR.

anavasoothed said:

Not that this question does not fit the specific "Rumors of War" example because that card is a Challenges action, not a Response.

With the exception of Responses that specifically use the words "save" and "cancel," not Response ever interrupts another. You have to completely resolve each one before triggering the next. However, when multiple things happen (for example, if I play an event card that kneels a character, there are at least two possible things that could have Responses - a character being knelt and playing the event card itself), there is no specific order in which you need to Respond. Players would not, for example, have to play all their Responses to an event card being played before playing any Response to a character being knelt. When multiple Response opportunities are created, they all stay "open" and available until all players have used all Responses.

I see. And what if Responses and Card effects are on the table with the same trigger from opposing players? Does the player with initiative get to choose the order in which they resolve? Or do they resolve in the order they are verbally claimed?

(Couldn't find the FAQ)

Thanks for all the clarifications, guys!

anavasoothed said:

Due to basic timing rules, Responses and Card effects do not have the same trigger.

But if two players both have Responses to play, or both players have Card effects to play, they take turns - starting with the First Player. (Note that "the player with initiative" is not necessarily the same as the First Player. The player with initiative chooses a "First Player" in the plot phase, and that player is first for everything until the next plot phase.) The First Player can trigger one effect, then every other player in clockwise order triggers one effect each, then the First Player can trigger a second effect, and so on. If, at any time, all they players have passed on the opportunity to trigger an effect, you move on to the next thing that happens in the game sequence.

anavasoothed said:

It's here .

ktom said:

Ok thanks for clarification. With English not being my native language I thought that the YOU just goes along with the winning part not also with counting the STR part.

Awesome. Thanks again all for answering these questions. Here is another to flex your brain muscles on. Just browsing the rules and this one popped up. Deathbound Duplicates. What happens? My interpretation is the duplicate, because it was no effects or abilities, actually goes to the discard because the Deathbound trait is null for a dupe.

And, since responses and abilities can be played after defenders/attackers are declared. Does 'locked away' remove an enemy from a challenge? This can sway the game in very tricky ways. My interpretation is that it does remove them from the challenge.

anavasoothed said:

As stated in the Rule Book, duplicates are treated as cards without title, text or trait. If they are treated as having no text, it's like "Deathbound" is not on them at all. So you are correct - a duplicate will always go to the discard pile when used.

anavasoothed said:

Again, I have to say that you seem to be equating Responses and regular card abilities when it comes to their timing and rules for triggering. They are not. Essentially, regular (non-passive) card effect/abilities are actions in their own right, Responses are not (they are considered part of the action they are Responding to - very important for timing).

The only time a character's icons are checked are at the moment they are declared as an attacker or a defender. So having the corresponding challenge icon only matters at the moment you do the declaring. Having the corresponding icon is not a requirement to keep that character in the challenge, nor is it a requirement for which characters count their STR when a challenge resolves. So no, removing an icon from a character that is already participating in a challenge does not remove them from the challenge. Once a character legally becomes a participating character, you need an effect that specifically removes them from the challenge (or from play) in order to make them stop participating before the challenge resolves.

anavasoothed said:

No. Removing icon during challeges does not remove the character from the challenge. The icon is only necessary to initiate the challenge with such a character. Once it participater icons does not matter anymore.