Retainer Qs

Folks: Three retainer questions. 1. Employing a retainer is +1 stealth, right? Only blockable by your prey or predator, right? It would seem to me, therefore, that one could actually employ Charnas the Imp and put him/her on some minion whose Methusaleh cannot even block the employment action. Of course, you'd probably want to put him/her on a predator or prey minion, but . . . 2. When announcing that your vampire is employing Charnas, do you have to announce on which minion Charnas will be placed, or does the announcement take place *after* a successful employment? It could make a diference in who decides to block. <heh heh> 3. The rules state that "If a retainer is not burned in a given combat, he gains back all the life counters he lost during the combat." Does this happen directly after combat, then? If a vampire with a retainer is involved in multiple combats during a turn, the retainer life is reset after each combat then?? Thanks in advance, Madman -- Free audio & video emails, greeting cards and forums Talkway - http://www.talkway.com - Talk more ways (sm)

Madman2001 wrote: > > Folks: > 1. Employing a retainer is +1 stealth, right? "The employ retainer action has a default +1 stealth." [6.1.4] > Only blockable by your > prey or predator, right? If it "is not directed at another Methuselah (or at something controlled by another Methuselah), ... the action is called undirected and can be blocked by the acting Methuselah's prey or predator." [6.2.2.1] > It would seem to me, therefore, that one > could actually employ Charnas the Imp and put him/her on some minion > whose Methusaleh cannot even block the employment action. No, "The Methuselah who is the target (or controls the target) of an action may use her ready untapped minions to attempt to block the action." [6.2.2.1] An actions are directed (or not) based on its target (or its target's controller). "Employ retainer" is not inherently undirected. > 2. When announcing that your vampire is employing Charnas, do you have > to announce on which minion Charnas will be placed, or does the > announcement take place *after* a successful employment? It could make > a diference in who decides to block. <heh heh> "All details of the action are declared when the action is announced, including the target(s), the cost, the effects, etc." [6.2.1] > 3. The rules state that "If a retainer is not burned in a given > combat, he gains back all the life counters he lost during the combat." > Does this happen directly after combat, then? If a vampire with a > retainer is involved in multiple combats during a turn, the retainer > life is reset after each combat then?? He gains back all the life he lost in a given combat directly after that combat (same timing as replacing the "do not replace until after combat" cards), yes. -- LSJ (vte...@wizards.com) V:TES Net.Rep for Wizards of the Coast. Links to revised rulebook, rulings, errata, and tournament rules: http://www.wizards.com/VTES/rules.asp