Courage Spell

[Lemmeron]

I have always considered courage the sister offensive spell to stone skin and played it to last until monsters are no longer visible - persistent like stone skin (until you get wounded).

Otherwise it feels like courage is the worst of the spells and poor old wizard is even less handy.

[mitchiemasha]

Wait a min... I've just got my pack of cards out and it clearly states 'each time' no mention of next... In the original EU rules as written their is no doubt to the intention of the card. I was wondering why I'd never previously doubted the mechanic.

[Gold Bearer]

Are you sure? I had the original EU version when it first came out and courage was just the next attack, exactly the same as a potion of strength, just as rock skin is exactly the same as a potion of resilience. Apparently USians don't know English well enough to know what resilience means.

[knightkrawler]

EU 2nd edition indeed says "each time". One of the many instances that made me re-write everything from scratch on the basis of the NA version, the only healthy version of HQ.
The worst thing is, these card texts are just sloppily written and not thought through, probably also sloppily playtested in some cases, like this one.

[Gold Bearer]

Right just so I'm clear.

EU 1st ed: +2A next attack.
EU 2nd ed: +2A each attack until no monster in sight.
US: +2A next attack unless there's ever no monster in sight before your next attack.

Yes

[cynthialee]

LOS requirement on this spell is a bad idea...I would suggest that it read something to the effect of it lasts until the last enemy in a combat is dispatched.

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

[whitebeard]

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

I'm doing this next quest!!!

[Count Mohawk]

LOS requirement on this spell is a bad idea...I would suggest that it read something to the effect of it lasts until the last enemy in a combat is dispatched.

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

If you want to discourage Morcar from retreating his monsters to break an application of Courage, you could modify the spell so it only checks for visible monsters at the end of the enchanted Hero's turn, or else check for monsters in the same room/corridor rather than strictly within sight.

Strictly speaking, there's nothing wrong with your method, though. If the Heroes try to cheese it by opening doors so that combat never ends, as was my immediate thought, they'll miss out on all opportunities to Search for Treasure or Traps.

Incidentally: Pit traps are counted as separate rooms for the purposes of Searching. Would you therefore break Courage if the enchanted Hero fell into a pit? (or more bluntly: what kind of Line of Sight does a Hero in a Pit have?)

[lucasdp]

LOS requirement on this spell is a bad idea...I would suggest that it read something to the effect of it lasts until the last enemy in a combat is dispatched.

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

I have been playing it like this throughout my recent quests and I think makes more senes. It has been easier to keep track of than LoS, and does not at all seem overpowering, in my opinion.

Incidentally: Pit traps are counted as separate rooms for the purposes of Searching. Would you therefore break Courage if the enchanted Hero fell into a pit? (or more bluntly: what kind of Line of Sight does a Hero in a Pit have?)

Personally, I have ruled that falling in a pit does not break Courage (the hero is still aware of the monsters, after all), but I could see it making sense either way. It's up to each individual Zargon or Morcar, I would say.

[Gold Bearer]

LOS requirement on this spell is a bad idea...I would suggest that it read something to the effect of it lasts until the last enemy in a combat is dispatched.

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

I have been playing it like this throughout my recent quests and I think makes more senes. It has been easier to keep track of than LoS, and does not at all seem overpowering, in my opinion.

As long as you know that you're playing a house rules and not the intended rule. The card is clear, their next attack. I read it wrong too and didn't realise till I read this thread.

An average of one extra skull per attack until the monsters are all dead is pretty powerful, but the other two US fire spells are very weak in comparison to the EU versions (assuming the EU aren't supposed to defend on either shield) so it's a good house rule if you don't want to use the EU fire spells. There's a problem with it though...

LOS requirement on this spell is a bad idea...I would suggest that it read something to the effect of it lasts until the last enemy in a combat is dispatched.

Because the LOS thing makes it so that I could run my monsters all around corners or behind furniture and ruin the spell.

If you want to discourage Morcar from retreating his monsters to break an application of Courage, you could modify the spell so it only checks for visible monsters at the end of the enchanted Hero's turn, or else check for monsters in the same room/corridor rather than strictly within sight.

Strictly speaking, there's nothing wrong with your method, though.

What happens if the heroes are separated? The one with courage gets to keep on using it because there's monsters on the other side of the board? It's not an issue with the actual US rules though, you can just attack with it in the same round that it's cast and then it's gone anyway.

I think Mohawk's two suggestions would work though, maybe all three together. It ends when there's no monsters in the same room or corridor or in sight at the end of the enchanted hero's turn.

The meeting place for fans of a specific and relatively simple board game and after a quarter of a century we're still getting the rules wrong.

Edit:
Again, just to be clear...

Right just so I'm clear.

EU 1st ed: +2A next attack.
EU 2nd ed: +2A each attack until no monster in sight.
US: +2A next attack unless there's ever no monster in sight before your next attack.

Yes

So the 2nd ed EU one reads...

Courage

This spell may be cast on any
one Hero, including yourself.
Each time that Hero attacks,
he may roll two extra combat dice.
The spell is broken the moment the
Hero can no longer "see" a monster.