Official Word on Torn Sign?

> >> Is it still possible to use the new Torn Signpost (with its new > >> wording) in combination with, say, Burning Wrath to get the > >> 5 aggravated damage? > >> > >> Brian > > > >Torn Signpost is used as a Strike. You can't play two strikes in the > >same round of combat (unless you have mutliple strikes). Torn Signpost > >also lasts for the rest of combat instead of your minion's normal hand > >strike. So you can use Burning Wrath *instead* of the Torn Signpost > >strike, but not in addition. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Wizards of the Coast PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707 Phone: 206-624-0933 > > Rules: ques...@wizards.com All other questions: cust...@wizards.com Not bloody likely. TOM! -- R. Brian Smith tam...@nurk.com "To date, your phone tips have led to the capture of 400 dangerous fugitives ‹ not one alien, not one sewer monster, not even a vampire. . . . GET WITH IT PEOPLE!" -Gillian Anderson

Ok, this (new ruling on Torn Signpost) is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong, I say. The old TS is not a strike card, allowing you to stack Undead Strength or Growing Fury or whatever on it, for big strikes. According to the above post, someone has decided that the new TS is now a strike. The VTES TS is worded ambiguiously , not actually saying "Strike:X" like all the other strike cards, so I do not belive that this was an intentional change, but rather a jumbled attempt to clarify the card. If there was an intentional change,there was no need for it. TS was never too powerful of a card, and was the staple of all Potence combat decks. With this new ruling, Potence combat decks without Celerity are far less effective, as you can't build big (5 or 7) point hits without multiple (rare) Fists of Death. Man, the Nosferatu were ineffective enough as it was. In a recent issue of "The Duelist" (7 or 8) Tom went over, card by card, all the functional changes of all the VTES cards that were worded differently than the Jyhad version. As TS was not on that very comprehensive list, and the wording on the VTES TS is still ambigious, I would surmise that: A) Torn Signpost was reworded in a somewhat failed attempt to clarify it (so to indicate that the damage is still a hand strike, not a signpost strike or weapon strike or something), not to change it to reduce it's usefulness. No other cards were changed in the Jyhad/VTES conversion in such a way to change the usefulness of the card unless it had to do with a overall rule change, like the +1 hand damage vs. 2 hand damge changes. This was due to an overall design change. No other cards had their power reduced for balance reasons or any other reason. Why would TS be singled out and changed with no explanation, when S:CE cards were untouched, along with Fame, Freak Drive, 5th Tradition, and any other number of cards that are well known for being somewhat in need of fixing? 2) A well meaning yet not entirely versed in Jyhad/VTES staff person responded to the question about TS by looking at the ambiguous TS card and saying "Well, I don't really play this game, and don't really know what the old card said, but this one says the word Strike in it somewhere, so I guess it is a strike, and this is how strikes work..." I don't think they are bad or anything, I just think that they are incorrect. If this is not the case, could someone please explain why they felt it was needed to change Torn Signpost into a strike, and deprive the Nosferatu and Giovanni one of their best combat options, namely the Torn Signpost+Undead Strength combo (which is still completely nullified by Dodge, S:CE, Skin of Steel, Thoughts Betrayed, Elisium...). -Peter D Bakija

In article <4hifbp$s...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu>, Brian Tandy <bta...@bernard.ma.utexas.edu> wrote: >Brian Tandy (bta...@bernard.ma.utexas.edu) wrote: >: Has there been an official clarification on how to use the new torn >: signpost? With the new wording it does not appear that we can use >: it in combination with, say, burning wrath for an impressive amount of >: aggravated hand damage. > >To answer my own question here is a reply from the very fine people >at WotC: > >From ques...@wizards.comTue Mar 5 15:08:28 1996 >Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 12:17:38 -0800 (PST) >From: Rules Questions <ques...@wizards.com> >To: bta...@fireant.ma.utexas.edu >Subject: Re: New Torn Signpost > >On Tue, 5 Mar 1996 bta...@fireant.ma.utexas.edu wrote: > >> Is it still possible to use the new Torn Signpost (with its new >> wording) in combination with, say, Burning Wrath to get the >> 5 aggravated damage? >> >> Brian > >Torn Signpost is used as a Strike. You can't play two strikes in the >same round of combat (unless you have mutliple strikes). Torn Signpost >also lasts for the rest of combat instead of your minion's normal hand >strike. So you can use Burning Wrath *instead* of the Torn Signpost >strike, but not in addition. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Wizards of the Coast PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707 Phone: 206-624-0933 > Rules: ques...@wizards.com All other questions: cust...@wizards.com > > So very sad. They strike with ivory bow, you try to dodge but that darn signpost you tore up weighs you down! That will teach you to vandalize! Where do they find such oracles? -steve kertes ker...@netcom.com

schw...@math.uiuc.edu (Gary Schwartz) writes: >In article <4hk1pf$3...@redwood.cs.sc.edu>, sjoh...@math.scarolina.edu (L. >Scott Johnson) writes: >>aa...@cats.ucsc.edu (Thomas R Wylie) writes: >>>Torn Signpost sets the base hand damage of the vampire to 2 (or 3) from 1. >>>You can stack strikes like Lucky Blow or Burning Wrath on top of this. >> >>So you can play claws on a Signpost, or strap a Dagger to the end of it? >>-- >I don't see why not, since you can now use Wolf Claws with a Bastard Sword, >or have I missed a convoluted justification to get around this? It isn't all that convoluted. Bastard Sword: Melee Weapon. Does (hand+1) damage as a strike. This strike is not a hand strike (although it does an amount of damage based on the amount of the weilder's hand damage), so cannot be modified by claws. -- L. Scott Johnson (sjoh...@math.sc.edu) | A titanic intellect... http://www.math.sc.edu/~sjohnson | In a world full of icebergs. Graphics Specialist and V:tES Rulemonger. |

In article <4hk1pf$3...@redwood.cs.sc.edu>, sjoh...@math.scarolina.edu (L. Scott Johnson) writes: >aa...@cats.ucsc.edu (Thomas R Wylie) writes: > > >>Torn Signpost sets the base hand damage of the vampire to 2 (or 3) from 1. >>You can stack strikes like Lucky Blow or Burning Wrath on top of this. > >So you can play claws on a Signpost, or strap a Dagger to the end of it? > >It thought you ruled on this the other way, but since I cannot find >any reference (!), I gues I was mistaken. > >What is the official stance on the above combinations? [ quoted text not captured ]