Question on a object from dungeon

By Persiatic, in Talisman Rules Questions

Hi

There is a object in dungeon expansion which gives you +2 craft and also the ability to discard followers to gain spells. (I don't remember the name of the obejct on top of my head). But a discussion came up last time I played where my friends stated that I couldn't use that ability on deathstalker follower or any negative followers for that matter.

But we have played before that the Vampiress can eat negative followers and I beleive that have been stated in a tread even. So is it the same for this item?

Regards
Pers

Persiatic said:

Hi

There is a object in dungeon expansion which gives you +2 craft and also the ability to discard followers to gain spells. (I don't remember the name of the obejct on top of my head). But a discussion came up last time I played where my friends stated that I couldn't use that ability on deathstalker follower or any negative followers for that matter.

But we have played before that the Vampiress can eat negative followers and I beleive that have been stated in a tread even. So is it the same for this item?

Regards
Pers

You can't choose to eat, or freely discard those negative followers.

So your friend was right.

There are only 3 ways to get rid of those followers:

1: follow the text on the card

2: with a random draw ( such as the chasm, werewolf etc

3: if you have no other normal followers, and you must lose a follower

There's still a lot of confusion about these Followers.

I remember well that a "negative Object" like False Grail was officially ruled that it can be freely alchemised by the Alchemist Character, Alchemist Follower and City Alchemist.

I remember also that the Vampiress is able to drain life from "negative Followers", just as the Gladiator is able to train them to fight.

I think you may use the Book of Diablerie (this is the Dungeon Object in topic) just like the Vampiress ability. The thing which is not clear to me is wheter the Vampiress/Book of Diablerie can be used on a "negative Follower" only if this is your last Follower.

The best way is to apply the same perspective to everything;

1) I can alchemise False Grail so I can choose to discard Deathstalker with Book of Diablerie/Vampiress ability

2) I can't alchemise False Grail so I can't discard Deathstalker too.

Just pick your favourite, or wait for clarification.

Hi Warlock,

I have send a question to John Goodenough yesterday, and i got a quick answer about the negative followers.

You was right about the Vampire. I have send another question to John, to fully understand how it works.

___________

Vampiress + draining negative followers

- Can the Vampiress drain the life force of negative followers?

A: Yes.

Some Followers (such as the Poltergeist and Hag) state that they must be taken. All of the rules regarding Followers apply to these cards as well, except a character must take the Followers if he encounters them and cannot choose to ditch them (see “Ditching Followers and Objects” on page 16 in the main game’s rulebook).

However, there are other ways for characters to get rid of these pesky companions, such as by visiting the Vampire Tower or using an ability that discards or kills the Follower.

______________

I got the second answer from John Goodenough 10 minutes ago.

Hi John,

thanks for your interesting mail, but i have still a question about negative followers.

Q: If a character lands on the cell space in the dungeon, and he has the poltergeist and other normal followers, can he choose to put the poltergeist in the cell?

( i ask this question because you said that you can also choose to get rid of those followers at the vampire tower)

A: Yes.

Basically any character, card or space ability that affects Followers makes no distinction between "negative" or "normal" Followers. You cannot choose to ditch the Poltergeist but you may use other abilities and effects to get rid of it such as the Cell.

______________________________

It's a interesting answer.

This means that you can choose at the vampire tower to sacrifice negative followers!

This also means that you can use the book of diablerie to discard those followers.

As you see, John Goodenough does not mention that you can't choose for those followers. It's amazing

The only restriction is that you can't ditch them..

Yet another U-Turn in the game! Originally you could only discard the Poltergeist in the Cell if that was your only Follower lol

However we have always played Followers in exactly the same way as John's answers, just like being able to alchemise the False Grail!

I'm really glad that John has finally confirmed these questions (discussed at length during playtest).

Ell.

Tnx for the good answer from the designer himself =D, it now clears it so if the card has the follower tag everything that affects followers affect them aswell.

Yes as it should have been to start with!

Ell.

I just wanted to verify that the Haunting Poltergeist (Spell: Cast on any character at the start of his turn. The character must take this card as a Follower and only moves 1 space per turn. This character must discard this card if he crosses the River, either by bridge, raft or ferry.) is able to be discarded in the cell like the Hag or Poltergeist.

I would think that you would be able to considering what it says on page 2 of the FAQ regarding "Cards That Become Followers" where it says "If a character is forced to ditch or leave a card that has become a Follower (such as the Cell space…) the Follower must be discarded instead."

Obviously in this case I would want to ditch the Haunting Poltergeist instead of being forced to ditch it, but I would think you should be able to discard it upon landing in the Cell.

When we played last night, this card was played on me at the Tunnel space between the Cell and the Vault, so I was 16 spaces away from crossing the bridge and 17 spaces from the Treasure Chamber and needless to say, it was a very frustrating game last night, but fun nonetheless :)

rdskinfn7 said:

I just wanted to verify that the Haunting Poltergeist (Spell: Cast on any character at the start of his turn. The character must take this card as a Follower and only moves 1 space per turn. This character must discard this card if he crosses the River, either by bridge, raft or ferry.) is able to be discarded in the cell like the Hag or Poltergeist.

I would think that you would be able to considering what it says on page 2 of the FAQ regarding "Cards That Become Followers" where it says "If a character is forced to ditch or leave a card that has become a Follower (such as the Cell space…) the Follower must be discarded instead."

Obviously in this case I would want to ditch the Haunting Poltergeist instead of being forced to ditch it, but I would think you should be able to discard it upon landing in the Cell.

When we played last night, this card was played on me at the Tunnel space between the Cell and the Vault, so I was 16 spaces away from crossing the bridge and 17 spaces from the Treasure Chamber and needless to say, it was a very frustrating game last night, but fun nonetheless :)

Ditching a card is not the same as discarding a card. Therefore in your example, if you landed on the Cell you could have discarded the Haunting Poltergeist without any problem!

Ell.