The text of Dragonstone Rookery says....

"Response: After an opponent wins a Power challenge AGAINST you, kneel and discard Dragonstone Rookery from play (cannot be saved) and pay 1 gold to reveal a new plot card."

Does the "AGAINST" mean against you as the defender, or does it also mean that if I attack offensively and lose, I can activate the Rookery?

Whether you lose on attack or defense, your opponent has won a challenge "against" you.

Whether I'm "home" and you're "away," or vice versa, we are playing "against" each other.

mathlete said:

You should probably read it more like "after an opponent wins a Power challenge against you." It is a bit of an odd wording because the usual template seems to be "after you lose a Power challenge." Either way, though, the game will always specify "as the attacker/defender" if it matters.

Saturnine said:

Actually, the correct emphasis should be on "against you" instead of just "you". Emphasis on "you" does not indicate the difference between "challenge against you" (which implies you were the target of a challenge, i.e. challengee) and "against you" (without "challenge", indicating simply against you in the context of a challenge). Emphasis on "you" just means you have to be involved, which you will have to be, either way.

the1andonlime said:

Not in a melee game.

Saturnine said:

Saturnine brings up an interesting situation, through. Let's say that A attacks B. B doesn't declare defenders, but since I support B, I declare a defender. I lose the challenge, but I am not really the defending player - at least as far as claim goes. So even though A won the challenge and I can trigger "after you lose a challenge" Responses, can I really trigger the Rookery since there is some question of whether the challenge is arguably not won "against" me?

ktom said:

I was simply thinking of the fact that the Rookery says "After an opponent wins," which - without the "against you" - would enable you to use the Rookery in a melee game even if you weren't involved in the challenge.

Saturnine said:

I see, but that is out of context of what the OP was asking. That why I suggested changing the emphasis

@ktom: Don't the rules allow you to trigger effects and responses as though you had lost/won a challenge is you support unsuccessfully/successfully? Wouldn't that allow for Rookeries shenanigans?

the1andonlime said:

But the Rookery doesn't say that. It says "after an opponent wins a challenge against you." In the support situation, did the attacker win a challenge against you, or against the person you support? It doesn't quite fall into the "you can trigger Responses as if you had lost the challenge" because it is not an "after you lose" Response. In short, because the Rookery is not phrased in terms of YOU winning or losing, it doesn't really follow the "support" Response rule.

ktom said:

Good point. Let me ask Nate.

So Nate says:

Yes, you may trigger such responses. The exact rule states:

"If your characters defend a challenge in support of another player, you are considered the winner (or loser, depending on the results) of the challenge, but the original target of the challenge is still responsible for any claim that would need to be resolved."

Since you are considered the winner/loser, the challenge was considered "against you" with the exception that the original target has to resolve any claim.