John Flournoy#
It's been made clear before that an ally playing a
discipline-requiring card 'as a vampire' does not _become_ a vampire
for a limited duration (like for the action), only gets treated as a
vampire for immediately resolving the play of the card.
However, I've got questions as to the applications of the prhase
'card(s) requiring' a Discipline. I'll probably repeat myself below
and be long-winded, sorry about that in advance.
If you have a Marijava Thugee holding a Changeling Skin Mask (or a
Ghouled Ally with a Hand of Conrad, High Top with a Drum of Xipe
Totec, or Talaq, or etc etc), when the Thugee plays an Obfuscate
minion card, can they play it at a superior level of effect?
Those allies have card text saying that they may play a card
'requiring' the basic discipline as a vampire. When they play the
card, they are treated as a vampire; a Vampire holding the relevant
equipment has the superior discipline.
You might argue 'but their card text specifies they can only play the
basic discipline' - which isn't _technically_ true, as far as I can
tell. Specifically, it limits them to playing 'cards that require the
basic (discipline name)'.
For instance, Diversion is a card that requires basic Celerity, yet
also counts as "a minion card that requires Thaumaturgy" when you go
looking for it with a Spirit Summoning Chamber.
I'm not suggesting (for instance) that High Top could play Swiftness
of the Stag for either Spiritus effect-level (even though it counts as
'a card requiring basic celerity') becuase of the basic rule that you
cannot play a card at a discipline level that you don't have - but
could High Top with a Drum of Xipe Totec play a Blur at superior? He
is 'playing a card that requires basic Celerity' as per his card text,
is treated as a Vampire for 'playing a card that requires basic
Celerity' by the rule on allies playing discipline cards, and a
Vampire playing Blur who has the Drum could play it at the basic or
superior... so can High Top with a Drum, or not?
And if an ally cannot do this, shouldn't there be some sort of
cleaning up of the phrasing for some cards, since 'card requiring a
discipline' has a very different meaning when the card is being played
as opposed to when you are looking for it in your library or hand?
Extrapolation SPOILER questions:
If (as has been rumored/spoilered elsewhere) Advanced Ferox's text
includes "Minions opposing Ferox in combat cannot play cards that
require Necromancy or Thaumaturgy" would that prevent an opponent from
playing a Diversion or a Collapse The Arches at _any_ level against
him or not?
Similarly, can a minion with Blessing of Chaos prevent a Daimonion-use
of Psychomachia, because it (sometimes) would count as an action
modifier card requiring Presence?
I'm assuming, but want to verify, that none of this would be correct.
That _playing_ a card immediately reduces it to 'as if it only had the
discipline-requirement for the effect being played, for all other
card-effects affecting the card' instead of 'as if it only had the
discipline-requirement for the effect being played for the purposes of
determining if that minion can legally play that card in the first
place'. Boy that's icky phrasing. Hope that made sense.
-John Flournoy