Council of Elrond

David Barton asked me about this.

The issue is this: If you teleport using Farmer Maggot while facing an auto-attack, and you end up at a different site that also has an auto-attack (e.g., weathertop), what happens (assuming you want to do stuff at weathertop)? There seem to be three options:

(1) You may play stuff immediately. You've already faced your auto-attacks for the turn, so there's no need to face more.
(2) You must face the Weathertop auto-attacks, since you have not dealt with the auto-attacks at your current site.
(3) You may do nothing. You had your one chance at entering a site, and you took it, but the ability to play stuff during the site phase depends on the site that you actually enter. Since you didn't enter Weather top (and it's too late for that now), you cannot do anything.

Note that if we go with (3), it will not matter whether the site teleported has an auto-attack. You will not be able to do anything no matter what.

I'm pretty sure (1) is wrong. Here's why:

MELE Rules wrote:Before a company can attempt to play an item, ally, faction, or other card that is “playable” at its current site, it must face the site’s automatic-attacks. The company need not defeat the attacks, it merely needs to resolve the attacks normally (such attacks can be canceled).

Also from MELE: "the company must face any automatic-attacks located at the same site before [an ally, item, or faction] can be played."

Now the question is whether (2) or (3) is right. There's not much help to be found here....

MELE Full Player Turn Summary -- site phase wrote:In the order you decide (i.e., you decide which goes first, second, etc.), each of your companies may:
• do nothing or
• follow this procedure:
1) Enter its site.
2) If the site has an automatic-attack, it attacks the company. The attack is resolved normally.
3)If the site is untapped, a character in the company may attempt to play an item, ally, or faction that is “playable” at that site. Tap the character and the site. Certain resource cards other than items, allies, and factions are playable during the site phase and state the conditions under which they may be played. Such a card only requires an untapped site if it states that the site taps when played. If a tapped site should become untapped, an additional resource may be played that taps the site. Anytime a resource card is played that taps the site, one additional character may tap to play a minor item.

Any thoughts?

zarathustra wrote:(3) You may do nothing. You had your one chance at entering a site, and you took it, but the ability to play stuff during the site phase depends on the site that you actually enter. Since you didn't enter Weather top (and it's too late for that now), you cannot do anything.

Where does it say you only get 1 chance to enter a site to play stuff? I haven't been able to find it. Then I guess this scenario would be illegal since I passed my 1 chance? This doesn't seem right.

(Minion Player)
1st company enters Dol Guldor, play Voices on Redoubled Force.
2nd company enters Mt Doom and plays a war-wolf and dark tryst and draws orcs of dul goldor
1st company tries to play orcs but can't since their 1 chance at playing stuff during it's site phase was used to do voices?

I think that example is irrelevant to the question at hand. (3) kicks in -- if it's right -- only when you somehow end up at a site that you did not enter.

The reason for reading the rules in this way is that both 2) and 3) from the MELE Full Player Turn Summary say "If the site...". This seems to presuppose that the site you play stuff at is the site you entered.

Now, why couldn't you just re-enter the new site, as (2) says? I guess the idea is that once a company reaches stage 2) in the the MELE FPTS they cannot go back to stage 1). This is why your example is irrelevant Brian: the company at DG is not going back to entering the site; they are merely continuing with their site phase.

Still, I'm not a big fan of the FPTS. It's clearly not comprehensive, and at most it suggests ruling (3), but it does not entail it....

Could we have the text of farmer maggot posted on this thread. I can't easily cross reference everything while not at my home computer.

Unique. If one of your companies faces an attack while at a site in The Shire, Arthedain, or Cardolan, you may immediately replace its site card with another site card in The Shire, Arthedain, or Cardolan (from your location deck). If your company takes this option, the attack is canceled and this card is discarded.

This card breaks the rules. Of course the FPTS doesn't cover it. It's the only case where this is a problem. Let's just declare that 2 is correct as a clarification of the text of FM and move on.

Chad's proposal is fine by me.

(Aye)

Aye.

Published in Digest 116. Done. Locked.