I am adding another "starting a post for when I have questions" post:

1 Can “Action” be triggered on a IDENTITY CARD if it is not the face up side? I understand that “Alter-Ego” and “Hero” abilities can only be triggered if that is the “face up” side, but what about actions that are not specific to one side or another? (p13 of LtP book: "If an ability does not specify a form, that ability may be used while the player is in either form."

2 Can abilities that say “...(attack)” or “...(thwart)” only be used if that is the active step/choice? For example, can I only trigger a “Heroic Ability (attack)” if I attack?

2 Follow up: If I use abilities that "thwart" or "damage" for example, does that damage happen IN ADDITION to the “basic” value from the Hero? (Example: For Justice! Event card: Is the 3 (or 4) threat in addition to the threat I would deal from the basic THWART action? Same with damage actions....

3 I assume that if I use my Hero to “Attack”, that I cannot trigger any events/supports that have the keyword “Hero Action (thwart)”?

4 I am assuming all damage during an attack action has to be dealt to the same character? If I use a Hero’s Basic Attack and declare the villain, can I then play events or trigger actions that have the “Hero Action (attack)” keyword to damage minions instead?

Thanks in advance to the community for the help!

1. No, only the actions or abilities on the side that is currently face up can be triggered.

2. No, if there were any restrictions on the event, it would be written on the card. You could use For Justice and then attack as Spider-Man. Not that if the Hero were confused, the effect of For Justice would be cancelled and the Confused status discarded.

3. No, you could still trigger them. See above.

4. Unless otherwise stated all damage from one source is applied to the same target. You could target different enemies with different attack instances.

17 minutes ago, nungunz said:

1. No, only the actions or abilities on the side that is currently face up can be triggered.

I am struggling with this ruling based on the quote from p13 that i included:

"If an ability does not specify a form, that ability may be used while the player is in either form."

What else does that statement mean if not to say you can trigger an ability while in either form? Perhaps I am just reading it wrong? I would think because Tony Starks "Action" doesn't say "alter ego" or "hero", based on p13 of the Learn to Play, you can use it while in either form.

Also - p13 of the Rules Reference says: "If the action ability is preceded by "Hero" or "Alter-Ego", the player must be in the specified form in order to trigger the ability"

Which, in my mind means, if NEITHER of those words exist, you don't have to be in the specified form to trigger the ability.

17 minutes ago, nungunz said:

3. No, you could still trigger them. See above.

So "(thwart)" or "(attack)" doesn't mean what game state/action you chose, it just defines the TYPE of action it is?

25 minutes ago, hendersondayton said:

What else does that statement mean if not to say you can trigger an ability while in either form? Perhaps I am just reading it wrong?

Your original question was very confusingly worded. You asked:

1 hour ago, hendersondayton said:

Can “Action” be triggered on a hero card if it is not the face up side?

You asked specifically about an action on a hero card. Hero means one specific side of your identity card, so the answer you got is you can only use the action printed on your hero side when it is face up, which is correct.

If you have a player card you played from your hand in front of you and it just says "Action" (without "Hero" or "Alter-Ego" in front of it), then yes, you can activate that action regardless of the state of your identity card, exactly as the quoted text in your original post says.

30 minutes ago, hendersondayton said:

So "(thwart)" or "(attack)" doesn't mean what game state/action you chose, it just defines the TYPE of action it is?

Correct. It interacts with the status cards that many abilities put into play - Stunned cancels all effects the next time you would attack, whether that's the basic attack action of your hero or an Action (attack) effect on a card.

7 minutes ago, Turan said:

Your original question was very confusingly worded. You asked:

You asked specifically about an action on a hero card. Hero means one specific side of your identity card, so the answer you got is you can only use the action printed on your hero side when it is face up, which is correct.

Sorry, I am using "Hero Card" to define the physical object of the card. Not the face that is showing (the active form). Tony Stark/Iron Man = a Hero Card.

EDIT: I should have said IDENTITY CARD. Sorry!

Although it may not be expressly stated in the rules, the face down side of your identity is considered to be in an "out of play state". It's just like how you can't play "card X" while it is in your deck instead of your hand. Peter Parker may always be Spider-Man but if he did "Spider-Man stuff" while out of costume his enemies would very quickly learn his secret identity and attack him while out on a date or working for the Bugle. Plus Aunt May might get mad at him and stop making him bowls of chicken noodle soup.