I thought that the OL couldn't gain threat when he was attacking with a hero with dark charm, but then lordshinjo showed me this entry in the faq:

Q: Under what circumstances can the overlord receive
threat for rolling surges on an attack roll?
A: The overlord may spend two surges on each attack roll
to gain one threat. He may do this on any attack that hits a
hero. This represents a change from previous FAQ rulings
on this subject.

So, it seems sure that he gains threat through a hero attack. But... how was the rule before this? Why this change? Dark charm is overpowered, but now I can regain the threat spent with the card with a good attack!

I don't think that's actually intended to let the overlord spend surges for threat during a Dark Charm attack; I believe it's meant to prevent monsters attacking empty spaces to gain threat. Technically, Dark Charm doesn't allow the overlord to make an attack, it forces a hero to make an attack of the overlord's choice - though the overlord does control the spending of surges and such.

Even if you're allowed to spend surges for threat during a Dark Charm, though, I don't think that would usually be a good idea. If you spend them on threat, then you aren't spending them on damage, Pierce, Blast, or other surge effects from the hero's weapon. Unless you have spare surges after killing the target, I just don't see ever wanting to do that.

I think the previous ruling may have required that the attack cause damage (rather than just hitting), and/or may have allowed gaining threat for attacking other monsters. I don't remember for sure.

You could gain threat if you have killed the heroe and you have unused surges, for exemple. So, what do you think, really? Any more opinions? There is anything in the rules which explicitly says that the OL cannot use surges for threat in a charmed hero?

Your oppinion was my first impression, though.

gran_orco said:

I think that change refers to clarification about the fact that an attack must hit a hero (as opposed to just swiping at thin air.) Possibly it's referring to a previous ruling that simply required the attack to hit something , thus allowing monsters to hit one another for threat if they expect to die on the heroes' turn anyway. I don't really remember what the rule was before this.

I would agree that the OL can gain threat from surges with a Dark Charm attack, although depending on the situation, the surges might be better spent ensuring the attack kills the target hero (via weapon bonuses, etc.) I don't think DC is overpowered, even with this. If the heroes are concerned about Dark Charm, they can position themselves to minimize potential damages.

However, the card says that "the hero must make one attack that you declare", which means that is the hero, not the ol, who makes the attack. So this sentence is opposite to the entry in the faq, although the faq seems to answer to the question about attacking empty spaces.

gran_orco said:

By that logic, the OL never makes any attacks. His monsters do, but not him. The OL has no physical presence on the board. When the OL "makes an attack" it means that a figure makes an attack under the OL's direction. Usually those figures are monsters, but in the case of DC, the figure is a hero.

Steve-O said:

That's not necessarily true. They're fairly sloppy about distinguishing between hero figures and hero players; the card could be read as forcing the hero player to make an attack that you choose, as opposed to the overlord player making an attack with the hero figure.

Could this doubt be explained in the next faq to adjust this sentence? I think that it is obvious that this question needs an explanation. Is not it?

Steve-O said:

I'm totally agree with you.