Firstly, here’s the crf entry for passive condition:
So all passive conditions result in actions.A passive condition causes an action to happen as stated on a card already in play.
Here are some example cards that produce actions as a result of passive conditions:
Corruption cards, e.g. Lures.
The Way is Shut
Snowstorm
Long Winter
And here’s an example list of cards which produce effects, not passive conditions that produce actions:
Bane of the Ithil-stone
Flotsam and Jetsam
Fell Winter
In the Heart of His Realm
Basically the purpose of this thread is trying to illustrate the difference between these two categories of cards that (a) produce passive conditions leading to actions, and (b) simply exert a ‘permanent-like’ effect which exists as long as the card is in play. By the latter I mean once they’ve resolved in their own chain of effects there’s no passive conditions created which can lead to actions.
The main difference between the two categories is the way one interacts with the card after the card resolves.
(a) Upon resolving, the former produces a passive condition, which when the situation is right, triggers an action which then immediately forms the action next chain of effects. Once the action is resolved, it’s complete and there is no going back – e.g. a company returns to the site of origin; a site is tapped; a creature attack from an Ahunt; a corruption check from a Lure, etc, etc. This is what I believe is key. Once the action resolves, it cannot be reversed. Of course one shouldn’t forget there are other ways to deal with such resolved actions, such as subsequently cancelling the resolved attack from an Ahunt.
(b) Upon resolving, the latter just creates an effect – e.g. border-holds gain a wolf attack, characters with a dark-domain in their site path lose their sage skill, being unable to search through discard pile or play deck. When the conditions aren’t met, the effects simply aren’t ‘applicable’. Such is the case for Flotsam and Jetsam when the play deck is more than 15 cards, or when a company leaves the appropriate sites/regions in ItHoHR, or one isn’t at a border-hold for Fell Winter. More critically, the ‘effects’ of this second category of cards are immediately removed if the card leaves play – border-holds don’t retain their wolf attack after Fell Winter leaves play. This is the main difference when compared to an action that is created from a passive condition.
If you see it this way, the cards seem to fall into place quite easily.
If you try to read it otherwise, in that those cards I’ve listed in category (b) should be in category (a), then cards like Flotsam and Jetsam don’t work. Every turn (or is it phase, or when is it?) would it be checking to see if the action can be applied (i.e. is the play deck at the required level), and every turn (or phase) could one then respond to it with a Smoke Rings? The implications associated with ItHoHR are even more intricate. A company entering an affected region would always have a chance to respond. What happens if the company remains at the site – does the card keep triggering actions indefinitely? At what point would the card not trigger? Can the card even un-trigger? Can passive conditions trigger actions to cancel the card's actions it first created? When does the checking next occur? Each phase, each movement hazard phase, each turn? It’s horrible even trying to comprehend how this all works.