Council of Elrond

THRALL OF THE VOICE ‐ Permanent‐event (C)
[SP: 1]
Instead of a normal character, during your organization phase you may bring into play one character (including a minion agent) with
up to a 6 mind. Place this card with the character. ‐1 to his mind to a minimum of 1. Such a character may also be in your starting
company.

Could I use it to play a normal character, just to benefit from the -1 to his mind?

As long the character has mind up to 6, yes.

Cool, thanks!

I guess I was confused by the "instead of a normal character" part of the text.

one character (including a minion agent) with up to a 6 mind includes some freaks but also some non-freaks.

Manuel wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:53 am

THRALL OF THE VOICE ‐ Permanent‐event (C)
[SP: 1]
Instead of a normal character, during your organization phase you may bring into play one character (including a minion agent) with
up to a 6 mind. Place this card with the character. ‐1 to his mind to a minimum of 1. Such a character may also be in your starting
company.

Could I use it to play a normal character, just to benefit from the -1 to his mind?

Manuel wrote: ↑Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:25 am I guess I was confused by the "instead of a normal character" part of the text.

I have seen some comments/confusion on "normal character" before. But there is no such thing as a character that is "normal" in MECCG. The rules and cards do not use the term "normal" when describing some cards compared to other cards--as in some normal characters VS. other non-normal characters. Instead, MECCG uses the term "normal" to describe the original attributes or original way to play something according to the rules (without any effects).

The use of "instead of a normal character" in Thrall is a reference to the normal rules, just as "normal sequence of play" in Bane of the Ithil-stone and "not discarded as normal" in Echo of All Joy are references to the normal rules. So the term "normal character" in Thrall of the Voice refers to the normal rules for playing a character:



Instead of "play a character card," Thrall allows you to play one character/agent with up to 6 mind.

So yes, you can play any character, even one that you consider to not be non-normal, as long as all of the conditions are met. But you cannot play a character using Thrall's effect if you have already played a character as normal and you cannot play a character as normal after playing a character with Thrall.

Speaking of "normal character" confusion, I stumbled upon this older thread on Thrall viewtopic.php?f=16&t=223

Some are so confused as to assert that Orcs/Trolls are somehow "non-normal" characters and so can be played using Thrall of the Voice "instead of a normal character." But no, Orcs and Trolls are still normal characters. It's just that Fallen-wizard players have "Special Orc & Troll Rules" including: "You may not play Orc and Troll characters until you have played the appropriate card (e.g., Bad Company)." Cards can override the rules but they must specifically reference the explicit restriction in the rules. Thrall of the Voice does not specifically mention Orcs or Trolls. So Thrall of the Voice is not an appropriate card and its generic effect does not overcome the Special Orc & Troll Rules.

Would have been easier to just read or remember the ICE Digests.