I wanted to double check this because Tempered Steel seemed really (too?) strong.

The card reads “Surge - Exhaust this card to add hit”

The surge is not unique so we played it that if I had Tempered available on my Heavy Crossbows I could add more than one hit (if I rolled multiple surges) then exhaust.

So blue surge-surge effectively becomes hit-hit. Dial in the surge modifier and you’ve got the potential for 15 damage at threat three (blue surge-surge, red hit-hit and mod) with Tempered Steel accounting for 9 of that.

However even though the surge is not unique it is an exhaust so does it get exhausted after you spend the first surge? (Thus leaving it unavailable to turn the other two surges into damage)

I suspect the answer is NO and Tempered is just a really good card

I used to play it this way until it was pointed out to me that the damage is only added when the card is exhausted, which is done on a surge.

So seeing as you can't exhaust the card multiple times, it will only add one hit.

I was kind of relieved as my friend was doing like 15 damage an attack to me with his Deepwood Archers. I never thought to check the card properly as I never use it myself.

All that damage through a 3 point card? No way, shouldn't be happening.

Lesson learnt!

The reading I had really came from a Descent background where some cards exhaust to add the ability to the weapon. Of course, in Descent ALL surges are effectively unique (can only be resolved once)

In this case, the surge you spend lets you exhaust the card to add a hit. After it is exhausted, the next surge you try to apply won't work.

(I think you understand that at this point, but I was thinking about typing this before I saw your recent post.)

Tbh the thing that threw me was that the card is not a unique surge. Given that the unique surge mechanic already exists in the game it seems weird not to use it here for clarity (I’m obviously not the only one making the error)

I appreciate the replies and I guess it is the difference between the card as written and “Exhaust this card to add [surge] add a [hit] to this attack”

15 minutes ago, Suhawk75 said:

Tbh the thing that threw me was that the card is not a unique surge. Given that the unique surge mechanic already exists in the game it seems weird not to use it here for clarity (I’m obviously not the only one making the error)

I appreciate the replies and I guess it is the difference between the card as written and “Exhaust this card to add [surge] add a [hit] to this attack”

This card being a unique surge with no exhaust would make it too good. You would equip it and just get that effect for every shot with no effort.

As an exhaust, it makes it so that you have to earn it a little to keep using this card. Either by Hawthorne, Rallying Musician, terrain, or lucky panic tests.

It think a lot of the cards in this game are intended to be circumstantial, carry a penalty for the awesomeness, or be one-offs with some work. The ones that just work all the time tend to be weak.

It’s part of why Scuttling Horror gets so much (mostly deserved) salt. Had it been an exhaust to use either effect, most players would see it as really good but not so amazing/busted. Or if not an exhaust, that it reduces wounds by one. Either needs work to keep going or carries a liability.

No, I’m saying why not make it a unique surge & exhaust. The mechanic (unique surge) in this game exists to make the intended reading 100% obvious.

My opponent and I both checked the Rules Ref and read the part about “a surge ability may be applied on multiple occasions if the attack has surges to spend”

In the fun and games of a match we didn’t apply RAW quite right.

Unique surges hadn't yet been introduced when this card was released, which is one reason why it doesn't have a unique surge symbol. The other reason is because the timing doesn't require it.

It's easy to play through the spend surges step of combat too quickly and miss things. One easy mistake is to apply all surges and then resolve their effects. Instead, you are supposed to spend surges for an ability and completely resolve that ability before moving on to the next surge ability or using that surge ability again. Kethra is a good example of this. Each surge she rolls can cause two damage. Let's say she rolls 2 surges. During the spend surges step of combat, you will choose to use her surge ability and spend 1 surge. The defender will suffer 2 damage. Next, you use that ability again, spending the remaining surge and causing another 2 damage. If the defender has 3 defense, it suffered no wounds because each surge caused it to suffer only 2 damage which does not meet the defense value. In a similar way, Tempered Steel requires you to spend a surge to exhaust the card and add a hit. Once it is exhausted and the hit is added, you can go to your next surge. You try to use it on Tempered Steel, but you can't exhaust an exhausted card, so nothing happens.

Surge+ abilities get around this issue by having an effect that varies depending on the number of surges spent. Tempered Steel could have said, "{surge}+ Exhaust this card to add {hit} for each surge spent." This is how people mistakenly use Tempered Steel.

Making it a unique surge may have made it clearer, but to me it is already pretty straightforward.