If a reaction card requires a roll and the roll is failed, do you have to put the recharge tokens on this card?

I'd say no, if it is a skill/attribute check with success line(s) [an Action that can only be used as a Reaction to a trigger, like Riposte combat action card]. As any action, the recharge mechanism works only if the action is successfull. Being a Reaction only defines the trigger in which cases it can be used (normal actions can be used with your action during your turn).

Acitve Defenses or "Shrug it Off" type cards are Reaction which do not have skill/attribute checks / success lines, thus having an explicit text to put recharge tokens on it when used.

From what I understand, Cwell is correct, you only place recharge tokens on a card if it is successful; doesn't make a lot of sense to have to recharge an action that never actually occurred.

I'd suggest yes. There have been a lot of questions asking why the Reaction cards specifically say 'add 2 recharge tokens to this card to add blah...' Istm that this is the reason; you must add the recharge tokens to the card to affect the opponent's pool. Nothing to do with success or failure, coz it's not your Action or your pool.

Followup Question: If you use a 'fast' weapon with riposte - do you put one less token on?

yep, Rispote & Counter Blow beeing a Weapon Skill actions with a normal recharge mechanism (4->3 recharge tokens with Fast weapons)

Jack of Tears said:

I don't see an unsuccessful use of an action card as 'the action never happened'. Quite the contrary. The action did happen and you missed and must now spend some time to regain your balance or footing in ordcer to carry out a similar action again. I never really understood why recharge shouldn't be put on just because your attack misses.

-L

I agree with Lucas - just because you attemted a move / parry / etc and failed does not mean that it did t happen. I did! But it mssed nd you are now out positionor unprepared to retry this. As a house rule I would say that the loss of position / balance / tempo / etc cause some delay (recharge) it is not the same as having completed the action and so only accrues half (round up) the successful recharge (minimum one).

An idle thought but again a grim and gritty solution to a more simulationist approach.

Alp

The problem with not recharging (or recharging less) on a defense when you are still hit is that the defense alone isn't going to make the attack miss. Even when an attack hits, those misfortune dice can lessen the blow (which has made a huge difference in the fights I've been in). Would those be considered "successful" uses of the defense?

Lucas Adorn said:

That's partially a "your perspective" issue, and partially a 'player mentality' issue.

As to the first part: Jack's interpretation is probably closer to the way the creators envision it. Most combats are described as a sequence of blows (round time is never defined but is definitely more than a couple seconds) where your 'move' comes inside a sequence of attacks, dodges, movement around the battlefield etc. It may not be that the 'blow didn't happen' but it was one of many blows, and you didn't invest enough into it to pull it off.

Also this becomes a big problem with non-combat situations. If you invoke a blessing and don't succeed, how do you 'miss'? Your god's still listening or you couldn't use another one. Why just wait 5 minutes and try again instead of beseeching more? It's simply alot cleaner to have one simple rule for all.

As to the 'player mentality' half:

Missing is rough. You get one action a round, and missing (particularly repeatedly) is very hard. In DnD for example, when someone misses on their high level encounter or daily, there's a noticeable deflation and unhappiness. Having them miss as their only action and then punishing them by taking their special attack away really brings a player down. So from a 'having fun' perspective, its a really bad idea.

Using a Reaction defense action card is always successful ... because you always get to add the or <P> to the opponent's dice pool. The action itself does not rely on a check or on the opponent's roll in any way (whether the roll is successful or not is entirely moot and unrelated to the success of the Active Defense action that was played. The Active Defense action merely adds dice to the enemy's pool. If, for some reason, some other action, talent, or event were to cancel or interrupt the use of the Dodge/Parry/Block action, and somehow prevent the addition of that action's dice to the opponent's pool, then the action would "fail" and no recharge would be applied. I don't think there is currently any way for this sort of interrupt to occur, so for now these actions are always "successful".

watch out, Reaction cards don't always "succeed". A "no-check" action is most likely an auto-success, but it's in its text : apply "effect x" and put y recharge tokens.

You meant Active Defense cards with the Reaction trait or some other action like "Shrug it off" that apply an automatic effect without needing a check roll.

Reaction like Riposte or Counterblow are actually actions with a skill check, triggered as a Reaction (beeing missed after having used the corresponding active defense)

Cwell2101 said:

My question was about Reaction cards like Riposte or Counterblow that have a dice pool.

shinma said:

Its true. I tend to forget that each round is a series of swings and attempts (which I like). **** me for forgetting. And in that perspective it makes more sense the way you describe it.

I can relate to the 'having fun' part. The mechanics should never ruin the fun, which is also why I like the high succes rate of this game. I like the fights (most) to be fast and deadly instead of drawn out. That holds particularly true in games with lots of ranged weaponry.

-L