0 STR, abilities, boon attachment questions from a n00b

[kc1980 0]

Thanks for all the help understanding this game.  Thanks for being so welcoming to new players.  I got into the HBO series and discovered this was initially a novel which i have yet to try and was content with the show until a friend of mine purchased the LCG for me.  Amazing gift and now i need to read this series~!!

As we've been playing some questions arise and i hope you can help me:

1.) I understand that if a character's STR is reduced to 0, it cannot attack or defend in a challenge?  I'm guessing this is the result but i have not been able to spell this rule out anywhere? It will just sit there basically and affect the game as it can until it gets a + STR again and can participate in challenges.

2.) I was wondering if a character is 'immune to character abilities' can it be stealthed?  Do keywords count as character abilities?

3.) Ive seen references to attachment types (boon/conditional)?  Is there a listing or description of these? (i suppose a boon gives a +/-, conditional requires a condition to be met?)

4.) if a character cannot be killed for whatever reason, and i have to kill a character due to a military challenge loss can i target a character that cannot be killed and avoid the requirement to kill a character? i'm guessing the 'cannot be killed' doesnt matter if i have to 'sacrifice' one of my characters and he's the only one?

thanks in advance~!!

 

[Circadia 0]

kc1980 said:

1.) I understand that if a character's STR is reduced to 0, it cannot attack or defend in a challenge?  I'm guessing this is the result but i have not been able to spell this rule out anywhere? It will just sit there basically and affect the game as it can until it gets a + STR again and can participate in challenges.

It can participate in a challenge as either the attacker or the defender. However, as the rules state that you must commit at least 1 STR to win a challenge as either attacker or defender, they won't be able to win the challenge by themselves. Since they still presumably have their printed icons, you can declare them as participating in any legal challenge for the purposes of declaring stealth, or activating an ability that is conditional on the character participating in the challenge.

Also, almost all STR reduction is until the end of the phase only, so it's unlikely that the character will be useless for too long.

kc1980 said:

2.) I was wondering if a character is 'immune to character abilities' can it be stealthed?  Do keywords count as character abilities?

No, keywords must be directly referenced as such. As per the FAQ:

 

(3.7) Card Abilities                               

"Card abilities" (i.e. "Character ability,", "Location ability," or "Attachment ability") refers to anything in a card's text box, except for traits, keywords, and flavor text. "Card abilities" also refers to any abilities (again, keywords and traits are excluded) gained by card effects.

 

kc1980 said:

3.) Ive seen references to attachment types (boon/conditional)?  Is there a listing or description of these? (i suppose a boon gives a +/-, conditional requires a condition to be met?)

There's no real system for determining which trait an attachment will have. They are just traits, like on characters and locations, and they interact with things that directly reference the trait. So, for example, one can use Maester Cressen to get rid of Condition attachments, but you couldn't use him to discard an attachment that didn't have the Condition keyword.

kc1980 said:

4.) if a character cannot be killed for whatever reason, and i have to kill a character due to a military challenge loss can i target a character that cannot be killed and avoid the requirement to kill a character? i'm guessing the 'cannot be killed' doesnt matter if i have to 'sacrifice' one of my characters and he's the only one?

No, you can never choose a character to die if they cannot be killed. Note that military claim requires you to choose as many legal targets for claim as is equal to the claim value on your opponent's plot card (a legal target being a character you currently control who can be killed). A character who cannot be killed is not a legal target, so he cannot be chosen regardless of if he is the last or only character you have in play.

This goes both ways, say for example you have Asha Greyjoy in play who cannot be saved. If she was reduced to STR 0 with effects like Flame Kissed, she would die. However, there is a Save event, Risen from the Sea, which allows you to save a character and then increase its STR by +1, The +1 STR would prevent her death since she'd no longer be 0 STR, but Risen from the Sea must target a character to be saved, and Asha Greyjoy cannot be saved. Cannot is an absolute and not only prevents a thing from occurring, it prevents you from even trying to make it occur.

 

[kc1980 0]

amazing reply~!!  much thanks