Hi guys,

just a quick question, as I am unsure now... When a success line says "you hit for normal damage", how is damage calculated (for a melee attack) if you did not use strength for the skill check? my guess is that it is still ST+DR.

But then I saw the grey order spell "blade in the dark", and I dont think it is appropriate there that you do ST+DR damage, as that doesnt make sense thematically, and a wizard wont have so much st do begin with, so he will do next to no damage...

but then maybe this is intentional?

anyways, i would like to know what the correct ruling is.

greets

Use the stat you base the check on, unless it says otherwise +DR if applicable. So the base damage for Blade in the Dark would be Int+5. (iirc)

monkeylite said:

monkeylite is correct.

good to know, but I just saw another card that kind of contradicts this:

nimble strike says under "special" that the card uses agility for the to hit roll and to calculate damage. so, if it were the normal case that you do that, why does it explicitly say so on the card?

greets

HoloDante said:

Because all other melee attacks use Str, so they're just making it clear?

Pg 57 from the core (emphasis mine):

Assuming the action succeeds, attacks generally inflict normal damage. This is based on the weapon’s inherent damage value and the attacker’s Strength (for melee attacks) or Agility (for ranged attacks). Some specific action cards may also indicate modifiers to the normal damage. Spells or other abilities that inflict damage generally have the damage listed on the individual action card, which may be modified by the active player’s characteristics.

Based on that, I'm pretty sure that damage is based on Strength or Agility (for melee or ranged, respectively).

I haven't seen anything that states that damage is based on the stat that you roll to attack with.

Right. and Int for spells. Unless the action uses a different characteristic, like Nimble Strike.

yes, i am very certain now that all melee attacks use str to calculate damage, and all ranged attacks agility. nimble strike is the only exception, as is stated on the card. blade in the dark, as it is both a melee attack and a spell, also uses str to calculate the damage.

thanks for the answers!

HoloDante said:

as I wrote in another post, I'm not entirely sure that Blade in the Dark uses STR and not INT. It is a Melee Attack, but also it appears tome that the blade strikes itself, and as it is a spell, I'm guessing it could be based on INT for damage. Other thoughts?

For exhibit C, I call on Troll's Vomit.

I don't have it with me, but istr there was a similar issue with that a while ago.

nice exhibit :-)

yes, if that attack were to use agility since it is a ranged attack, it would not make much sense at all... i think we really need an official ruling on this, as there are good points for both cases.

I think that's more an issue with just an error with Troll's Vomit rather than an indication of the rules as a whole.

Doc, the Weasel said:

so you would base Blade in the Dark's damage on character Str?