Frostgrave - Rules

[marcnelsonjr]

Question about the Nightmare spell from Maze of Malcor:

Can it be cast multiple times on the same target? If so, would its effects stack? (i.e. each successful casting causes the target to lose 20XP after the game)

[recceboss]

Hello fellow adventurers!!
Some questions about the v2 rules which I'm hoping you can all help me with.

1. In v1, the various magic Staffs which could be found had the rule 'Counts as a regular staff for combat purposes' - is this still the same in v2? I asked on the facebook page many months ago but didn't get an answer.

2. Robes of arrow turning - I know the description says ALL bow and crossbow attacks but is it the case they still give the benefit even if they are magic weapons? I'd say yes but I'm trying to forestall the rules lawyers.....

3. The RB says to make the terrain as dense as possible, which we all know. This will mean that at times, figures will block other figures from moving along passages, past terrain etc. I cannot find, in the v2 rulebook, anywhere where it states that figures must have a clear path to be able to move past other figures - I know about the forced combat rule - I'm talking about general movement even amongst figures from the same warband. The only vague mention is on page 43 in group activation where it says 'allow figures to move past one another through tight confines, and so on'. Again, this is to forestall the rules lawyers from saying 'it doesn't state that my figures can't just move through space occupied by figures from my own warband'.....

Thank you in advance for your help

[Chief Lackey Rich]

The only vague mention is on page 43 in group activation where it says 'allow figures to move past one another through tight confines, and so on'.

FWIW, I've always interpreted that (and it shows up verbatim in all his games IIRC) to be a reference to how a group activation can let you move a figure out of a blocking position (eg a corridor intersection) so other figs can then move through the space it was occupying in the same activation.  But that's just my take on it.

[marcnelsonjr]

3. The RB says to make the terrain as dense as possible, which we all know. This will mean that at times, figures will block other figures from moving along passages, past terrain etc. I cannot find, in the v2 rulebook, anywhere where it states that figures must have a clear path to be able to move past other figures - I know about the forced combat rule - I'm talking about general movement even amongst figures from the same warband. The only vague mention is on page 43 in group activation where it says 'allow figures to move past one another through tight confines, and so on'. Again, this is to forestall the rules lawyers from saying 'it doesn't state that my figures can't just move through space occupied by figures from my own warband'.....

1st Ed had this bit that didn't make it to 2nd Ed:

Figures from the same warband do not block each other’s passage, but creatures and members of opposing warbands do

We've been playing it that way, though.

[recceboss]

Thank you for the replies.....

So basically if I have a warband member in a narrow passage in base contact with a figure from the opposing warband, there's nothing in the v2 rules to stop another figure from the opposing warband moving through the space occupied by the 2 figures that are in base contact..... regardless of the 'intent' of the rules, we all know that there are people who are going to try and exploit this loophole.....

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Thank you for the replies.....

So basically if I have a warband member in a narrow passage in base contact with a figure from the opposing warband, there's nothing in the v2 rules to stop another figure from the opposing warband moving through the space occupied by the 2 figures that are in base contact..... regardless of the 'intent' of the rules, we all know that there are people who are going to try and exploit this loophole.....

Absolutely not.  Being in close combat prevents an enemy fig from forcing combat, but it doesn't make the figure cease to exist.  Even if you're allowing friendly models to move through each other (which I'd contend is not the RAW or RAI anyway) the moment that figure moving through the space of the two engaged models contacts the enemy they've locked themselves in melee anyway and can move no further. 

And even if you allow friendlies to pass through each other, I assume you aren't letting them occupy the same space at the end of that movement.  So your hypothetical movement through a melee can't contact an enemy model at all while you're sharing space with an ally since that would pin you in an overlapped position.  No shoving models around that way to get an outnumbering bonus you couldn't have gotten without displacing models.

I don't know if 2nd ed Frostgrave has the exact same text, but in Stargrave the last part of the last sentence of Group Activations where he's explaining why you'd ever use them reads "...or to allow figures to move past one another in tight confines."  You can't just walk through friendlies or that text wouldn't be there, and SG is the most current iteration of the core mechanics.

[Darkson71]

Joe has said on FB that in 2e ALL figures block, friend and foe, a deliberate change from 1e, but if you/your group want to play that friendly figures don't, it's not a big deal.

[Darkson71]

1. In v1, the various magic Staffs which could be found had the rule 'Counts as a regular staff for combat purposes' - is this still the same in v2? I asked on the facebook page many months ago but didn't get an answer.

2. Robes of arrow turning - I know the description says ALL bow and crossbow attacks but is it the case they still give the benefit even if they are magic weapons? I'd say yes but I'm trying to forestall the rules lawyers.....

1. Yes, unless the description specifically says it's not (was answered on FB before).

2. Is a magic bow still a bow? Is a magic crossbow still a crossbow? Would have to be some serious rules-lawyering to try to claim otherwise, and if someone did try it, they're probably not worth the time in playing.

[marcnelsonjr]

Joe has said on FB that in 2e ALL figures block, friend and foe, a deliberate change from 1e, but if you/your group want to play that friendly figures don't, it's not a big deal.

Thank you!

[Grumpy Gnome]

My wife and I just finished our second game of Frostgrave and we are loving it!

A couple of questions popped up.

1) In the Captain can take a dagger for +1 fight but I understand 2nd Edition removed this from wizards and apprentices. Does that apply to Captains in 2nd Edition?

2) I see in Spellcaster that you can have a legendary soldier for every 19 levels. Captain is a legendary soldier and takes a specialist slot. Do all legendary soldiers take a specialist slot? If so, how does one get to the max 8 legendary soldiers mentioned in Spellcaster?

3) Does a spellcaster need to have line of sight the entire length of the flight, including the destination, of model during a leap spell?

4) In Ghost Archipelago a figure that has been given a potion by a herbalist loses and action in their next activation. Does this apply to Frostgrave 2nd Edition as well?

Thanks in advance for the help. I know we are late to the party but we are very enthusiastically loving the game!

[Ogrob]

Don't know all of those, but

1) Not seen official errata, but yes, all +1 Fight for dual wielding has been removed in 2e so should be removed from the captain as well.
4) No, the Apothecary has never had that restriction in 1e or 2e. Apothecaries are just better than Herbalists.

[Darkson71]

1. The +1 Fight for two weapons has been removed completely, so yes, that includes the Captain (but any [non-Captain] Soldier that has 2 weapons keeps their stat line as is, for example Tunnel Fighter).

2. Iirc Joe has said on FB that the Legendary (bar the Captain) don't count as Specialists, but I may be misremembering that.

3. No.

4. No.

[Darkson71]

Found it, and I was sort of right.

Spellcaster: Second Edition Review
I recently read through all the previous issues of Spellcaster magazine to see what changes might be necessary in light of the Second Edition rules changes. As it turned out, I was surprised how little effect the new edition had on these rules. The only article that needs significant updating is the Casting Roll Criticals because some of the spells have changed. I am planning on presenting a completely updated list later in the next issue. Otherwise, I found only three instances where articles need updating.

Black Powder Firearms (Issue 1, p.4)
The three soldiers presented in this article: Musketeer, Coachman, and Duellist are all specialist Soldiers.

Legendary Soldiers (Issue 4, p.4)
A warband that contains Legendary Soldiers can have a maximum of 3 specialist soldiers. So, a starting warband may contain either 4 specialist soldiers or 1 legendary soldier and 3 specialists. This maximum of 3 specialists does not change, even as the number of legendary soldiers increases. So, a level 30 wizard, entitled to 4 legendary soldiers, could have a warband consisting of 4 legendary, 3 specialist, and 1 standard soldier. A level 60 wizard could have 7 legendary and 1 specialist.

Monster Hunting (Issue 5, p.14)
Previously the Chilopendra Horn grants +1 to Monstrous Form. As this spell no longer exists, change it to +10gc

[Grumpy Gnome]

Thank you for researching that for me. I am not on Facebook any more, which is a real hassle sometimes. Mrs. GG and I appreciate getting these questions answered. Be warned though, at the risk of flogging the willing we expect to have more questions in the future.

[Ascent]

I have a question here for 2ed rules involving scrolls. Or one scroll in particular.

If an Enchanter is attempting to build a large construct before game, they fail due to the minus to the roll then use a scroll to succeed.

The wording for using the scroll says it has a casting roll of 14 dose this then drop to 8 because of the -6? This would then mean that actually it fails rather than succeed despite the scroll saying it passes.

Not sure how better to word this.