Leech attack

By whipko, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Question:

For leech attack, my count avatar heal

1) the total amount of wounds I damage after armor plus the wounds lost due to 0 fatigue

Leech attack 10 on a hero with armor 6 and fatigue 2 (total heal 6 wounds)

2) the number of wounds i damage after armor

Leech attack 10 on a hero with armor 6 and fatigue 2 (total heal 4 wounds)

3) only the number of wounds caused by leeching (wounds suffer after 0 fatigue)

Leech attack 10 on a hero with armor 6 and fatigue 2 (total heal 2 wounds)

The leech attack heals the attacker on a one to-one basis. The number of wounds the attacker inflicts on the victim is equal to the number of wounds the attacker heals(capped by the attacker's max. wounds). The victim also loses one fatigue for each wound he suffers. If he's out of fatigue, he takes one additional wound for each point of fatigue he should've lost( ignoring armor), and the attacker is healed extra, if he's not already at full health.

Leech says:

"For every wound token lost due to a Leech attack, the target also loses 1 fatigue (or suffers 1 additional wound, ignoring armor, if the target is out of fatigue) and the attacker is healed of 1 wound."

One could argue that the "every wound token lost due to a Leech attack" is vague regarding which wounds it counts, but no matter what that refers to, the following effects both have to be exactly equal to that number of wounds:

  • The number of wounds the attacker heals
  • The amount of fatigue + extra wounds lost by the target

Those are both effects that are triggered "for every wound", so the amounts must always be equal to each other and to the "every wound token lost" total; any other result definitely contradicts the rules. So let's go over your options with that in mind:

1) "every wound token lost" includes wounds both from normal attack damage and extra wounds lost due to the Leech effect.

10 damage versus 6 armor and 2 fatigue. Attack inflicts 4 wounds, so attacker is healed of 4, loses his 2 fatigue, and takes 2 additional wounds. That brings the total up to 6 wounds, so the attacker is healed of a total of 6, and the target must lose his 2 fatigue and take 4 additional wounds. That brings the total up to 8 wounds, so the attacker is healed of a total of 8, and the target must lose his 2 fatigue and take 6 additional wounds...

The only way this can be true is if a target that runs out of fatigue takes infinity wounds, because every wound he takes due to being out of fatigue increases the number of wounds he needs to take due to being out of fatigue.

2) "every wound token lost" just includes wounds inflicted by normal attack damage.

10 damage versus 6 armor and 2 fatigue. Attack inflicts 4 wounds, so attacker is healed of 4, loses his 2 fatigue, and takes 2 additional wounds.

No problems here.

3) "every wound token lost" just includes wounds inflicted by the Leech ability when the target is out of fatigue

10 damage versus 6 armor and 2 fatigue. Attack inflicts 4 wounds, but those don't count for the Leech ability. We can't determine how much fatigue + extra wounds the target should suffer until we know how many extra wounds the target should suffer, so we're going to need to break out some algebra.

fatigue lost + extra wounds suffered = "every wound token lost" = extra wounds suffered
fatigue lost = extra wounds suffered - extra wounds suffered
fatigue lost = 0

And since the target cannot suffer any extra wounds until he runs out of fatigue, the Leech ability must not do anything at all on this attack. Any other result would contradict one of our assumptions.

To summarize:

Option 1: Target takes infinity wounds, and attacker is healed of infinity wounds
Option 2: Target takes a total of 6 wounds, and attacker is healed of 4
Option 3: Leech has no effect at all on this attack

Personally, I like option #2.

zealot12 said:

The leech attack heals the attacker on a one to-one basis. The number of wounds the attacker inflicts on the victim is equal to the number of wounds the attacker heals(capped by the attacker's max. wounds). The victim also loses one fatigue for each wound he suffers. If he's out of fatigue, he takes one additional wound for each point of fatigue he should've lost( ignoring armor), and the attacker is healed extra, if he's not already at full health.

Actually the attacker is not healed for extra wounds caused by lack of fatigue. This is how it works:

For every wound dealt to the victim by the attack, two things happen:

1. the attacker is healed one point

2. the victim loses 1 fatigue. If he has no fatigue, he loses another wound instead.

If the extra wound in part 2 also healed the attacker (ie: it was recursively subject to part 1), then it would also cause the loss of a fatigue because if it causes 1 effect, it should cause both. Which would equate to another wound since we've already established the victim is out of fatigue. Which would cause an infinite wound loop that ran until the victim was dead.

You get healed an amount equal to the damage rolled on the dice, less any protective measures the victim has, and that is all. The added wounds caused by the victim being out of fatigue do not count for healing.

Oh, okay, thanks, that makes sense. I don't own Well of Darkness yet, so I haven't actually run into any Ferroxes(save for the odd encounter in RTL perhaps). Just went by the rulebook description for Leech, which could've been better phrased.