Now that the abilities Blast & Breath are no longer mandatory how does this work in regards to Taunt .

Breath: The Breath template has a max range of four, so if the hero with Taunt is at 5 range, does this automatically force the attack to switch over to the individual attack rather than the template? Or does the OL have to declare first which type of Breath attack he is making, template or individual? If say, the hero forces the attack against himself with Taunt can he choose to be the only target hit by it or does the OL still have the option whether or not to use the Breath Template? IE, if the Taunt is used against a Breath attack, and several monsters may be hit, or heroes, can the OL choose to avoid hitting monster figures by focusing on an individual attack rather than a full Breath if the attack is still legal? Can the hero force the OL to hit only him if there are multiple heroes who can be hit under the template as long as the attack is still legal?

Blast: I take this to mean as well that even if you can't draw LOS to a target with Taunt , if you can hit it with the Blast radius you are forced to aim it at a spot that will hit the hero with Taunt ? What if you can after you add Threat to increase the Blast radius even if you couldn't hit the hero with Taunt without adding them, are you forced to spend them to make an attack against the hero because you can "legally" do it? Do you still have to retarget at that point? If you can't make the range and blast radius affect up to 5 spaces away with the attack are you still forced to make the attack if you can't actually hit the hero, or do you treat this like you would a melee attack, unaffected by taunt due to lack of range to make a legal attack? I am aware that this is highly impropable but in at least two cases I found possible. Or does the OL have to decide when he attacks which type of attack he is using again before attacking, template or individual?

I am aware that these are out there questions but they have come up a few times in our game, especially in regards to Breath . Thanx for any clarity you can shed on this.

Veritech said:

With regards to the Morph ability, the OL is allowed to declare the attack whichever type he likes, even when being taunted. ie: if the creature is not adjacent to the taunting hero, the OL can still declare the Morph attack to be a melee attack and therefore ignore the taunt. Following the same logic, I would say that the OL may choose whether or not to use the template for Breath and Blast independently of the taunt, and if his choice makes it impossible to hit the taunter, so be it.

Of course, I can easily see some people choosing to play it the other way.

Veritech said:

The taunt only forces the OL to include that hero in the attack. The taunter does not have any control over the variables of the attack, except to say that the attack must hit him, if able. The hero cannot choose whether or not the template is used, in fact, as outlined above, I believe the OL could use this choice to prevent the taunt from working, based on past rulings concerning Morph. Even if you choose to disregard that idea, the hero has no say over other targets that may or may not be included. As long as the taunting hero is being targetted, the OL is free to hit as many other targets (or avoid hitting other monster targets) as he sees fit.

Veritech said:

I would agree with that. If the OL can legally hit the taunter with an indirect attack, he must do so. (As an aside, does taunt require LoS to the target monster? I don't have my cards here to check, but it's something to keep in mind.)

Veritech said:

I do not believe the OL is required to spend threat boosting the radius. I'm assuming there's an OL card or special quest rule you have in mind here, because I don't believe there's any general rule that allows the OL to spend threat in this manner anyway. The OL would certainly not be required to play a card from his hand just to make an attack hit the taunter if it was otherwise missing.

Veritech said:

The triggering condition for Taunt is "when a monster declares an attack." This is before any dice are rolled, before a target space is nominated and before any targets or Areas of effect are decided. There is no need to "re-target" because the taunt must be declared before the monster's target has been decided. If the hero with taunt waits until the attack is half-way resolved, it is too late to use this ability.

Steve-O said:

This is how I've been playing it, declaring which type of attack with monsters who have Breath I am using. I didn't take into account Morph as I've never gotten to use it.

Steve-O said:

Good to know, and again it will help me when I face using Morph to know this as well.

Steve-O said:

No, Taunt is only restricted by distance and legal attack, since Blast can be targeted on an empty space, if the radius would hit him it would be a legal attack in the case of your answer here.

Steve-O said:

I'm guessing in this case if the OL does spend eneogh threat on the attack making it legally able to hit Taunt would kick in though? And yes, at least one of the encounters has 8 threat gain +1 Blast . I'm not sure if there's more but if there's one there usually is another.

Steve-O said:

That makes sense.

Veritech said:

That would depend on exactly when the OL is able/required to spend the threat. If he must do so when the attack is first declared (when other variables like target space and template are chosen) then yes. As long as the OL chooses values for the variables that leave the attack able to hit the hero, he must try to do so (but remember he is not required to spend enough to make this possible.)

If, however, the threat is spent mid-attack - after dice are rolled, for example - then it is beyond the point where taunt has been applied. By that point in the resolution, taunt has already been declared and (presumably) determined incapable of hitting the taunting hero, so the OL is free to do whatever he pleases with the attack. He CAN spend the threat and include the taunting hero, or he can decline to do so.