How to chose Elf Spells

[MonsterMotor]

If the intention was to have the spell affect any weapon, the word "wooden" would not be in the text (and the title of the spell would also be different). It should be fully ok to use the appearance of a monster as indicator for whether or not this spell has an effect. For instance, fimirs and goblins armed with an axe would be affected then.

[TheLastChaosWarrior]

What makes you think it affects ranged weapons? The EQP also had Elven warriors armed with swords, so surely it was intended for any weapons. The card doesn't mention any weapon, so logically its only going to work by ruining A weapon, so hence any weapon.

How do you figure it doesn't mention any weapons? "This spell causes any wooden weapon, such as a staff, bow or crossbow to be warped into uselessness." Bows and Crossbows are ranged weapons. Asides from the Dread Sorcerer no monster uses a Staff.

But above you say if you are ew, you allow it on skeletons, ogres, war bears and Sorcerors. These are not ranged monsters, so why allow it's use on these but not others? Ranged skellies were not a thing in EQP and Chaos Sorcerors weapons are never specified??

[wallydubbs]

What makes you think it affects ranged weapons? The EQP also had Elven warriors armed with swords, so surely it was intended for any weapons. The card doesn't mention any weapon, so logically its only going to work by ruining A weapon, so hence any weapon.

How do you figure it doesn't mention any weapons? "This spell causes any wooden weapon, such as a staff, bow or crossbow to be warped into uselessness." Bows and Crossbows are ranged weapons. Asides from the Dread Sorcerer no monster uses a Staff.

But above you say if you are ew, you allow it on skeletons, ogres, war bears and Sorcerors. These are not ranged monsters, so why allow it's use on these but not others? Ranged skellies were not a thing in EQP and Chaos Sorcerors weapons are never specified??

Mage of the Mirror is a broken quest pack that was never properly playtested, so the specifics and bugs were never fixed. It is my belief that this spell was made for Mage of the Mirror specifically because of the Elven Archer, hence the specification for bows.
The spell's name is Twist Wood, that targets Wooden weapons. Most skeletons are armed with scythes, traditionally the handles of scythes are wooden; Ogre Warriors and Polar Warbear clubs are suspected to be made of Wood. As Zargon, I understand Archers may not be included in every quest pack, so I tend to be generous and allow this spell to work on whichever monsters seem to have wood in their weapons.
No monster card specifies what weapon the monsters have, as the weapons of the miniatures change. So I look more closely at the monster card. The majority of swords I've seen don't have a hint of wood in them, so "Twist Wood" shouldn't work on swords. It's debatable if a Battle Axe or mace does, it doesn't look like it on the Frozen Horror and Dread Warrior card.

I understand if you want to let it work on any and all weapons at your table, might even be simpler that way, but I think of that as a little too powerful to drop the Frozen Horror to 1 attack dice. Thankfully the Witch Lord is immune to spells. But this is just the way I handle it, to compensate for a broken quest pack that never delved into specifics.

[wallydubbs]

If the intention was to have the spell affect any weapon, the word "wooden" would not be in the text (and the title of the spell would also be different). It should be fully ok to use the appearance of a monster as indicator for whether or not this spell has an effect. For instance, fimirs and goblins armed with an axe would be affected then.

I'm inclined to agree with this, but the only thing is that it's hard to tell sometimes. Some medieval battle axes didn't have wooden handles. Most of the handles usually are, but not all. The majority of Battle Axes do but when looking into maces it seems 50/50.

[TheLastChaosWarrior]

Mmm, yes good point about the FH.
I wouldn't be happy if I was EW and a player cast that and busted his attacks down to 1!!

[MonsterMotor]

I don't see a disagreement here. The axes of the goblins and fimirs clearly show wooden textures, whereas that of the Frozen Horror does not.

But the point is generally interesting, e.g., the ogre lord could fall victim to this spell. So it might be a handy choice for the elf to weaken some boss monsters. Let him! I would not have a problem with that. That's what this spell is for. Another reason why bosses want to have some minions around them.

Last but not least, I certainly see this spell on the long list of HQ spells that do (or did in my case, as I have reworked and balanced them all in my own ruleset) require some clarification or adjustment.

[TheLastChaosWarrior]

If I see any Hero armed with Twist wood anywhere near my boss, like FH or Ogre Lord, I will be adding a Chaos Sorcerer with Dispell up his sleeve to block that *lemony goodness*!!!!

[wallydubbs]

If I see any Hero armed with Twist wood anywhere near my boss, like FH or Ogre Lord, I will be adding a Chaos Sorcerer with Dispell up his sleeve to block that *lemony goodness*!!!!

Better yet, Mirror Magic that spell. I'm sure there's a hero with a Crossbow this can effect.

[TheLastChaosWarrior]

Haha, yes. I hate Heros with ranged weapons!!!!

[Kurgan]

One could view it as more of a "nature" based version of "Rust" perhaps? That's how the App interprets it. Any weapon destroyed... attack reduced to 1 die. Simple, yes, but is it satisfying to players?

Perhaps they just assumed nobody would ever use it until they ran across bow-wielding enemies. Still, it's just one spell... unless there's a potion of recall, the Elf is going to ruin one monster's day per quest, and that's it. Spell casting bosses don't rely on their weapon anyway until they've exhausted their spellbook.

Of course Wizards of Morcar give us a Rust so powerful it can even destroy weapons that contain no metal (ruins Staff just as much as as a Sword... in fact, with the new Equipment, it could destroy certain Potions as well!). I personally hope they keep this ability intact, as it makes it more interesting than just having a carbon copy of the GS "Rust."