I’m afraid I’m gonna end up as popular as Elmore Rhine, but I have to ask, as it is now buggin’ me:
What are the rules / how do you tell if a dude is “affected” by an action?
This is, pretty clearly, a follow-up to my question re: Allie Hensman (Exp. 1) (Allie Hensman (Exp. 1): "must" vs. "does not" pay), but I’m interested in the general answer, because now I’m all confuzzled worse than poor old Henry M.
Allie Hensman (Exp. 1)'s job reads:
Noon Job, Boot: Allie leads a job that marks an opposing dude. If successful, the mark’s controller must give you ghost rock equal to the mark’s influence. If the player cannot or does not, discard the mark.
I’m specifically confused as to how I know that the second sentence,
If successful, the mark’s controller must give you ghost rock equal to the mark’s influence.
“affects” the mark?
Normally, I’d apply “common sense” (did the second sentence of the action alter in any way the mark?) and then a dictionary (affect: to produce an effect on), but both these led me to conclude the mark would not be affected.
Example of Allie Hensman (Exp. 1) job in action:
Allie Hensman’s job mark’s an opponent’s Elmore Rhine, who has 3 influence. The job succeeds.
Elmore Rhine was Pistol Whipped home, and is still in play when the shooutout ends, and his controller has 3 gr.
I understand from the ruling that payment is not optional, per sentence two. The mark’s controller (not the mark) must give ghost rock equal to the mark’s influence (3). The mark’s control can do so, and therefore must give 3 gr to opponent. Sentence three resolves without any effect.
(I’m good so far: “must” usually means “shall”, and this ruling is a clear application of that concept, plus the general principle of 'do what the card says, line by line.)
Elmore Rhine was Pistol Whipped home, and is still in play when the shootout ends, and his controller has 2 gr.
I understand from the ruling that payment is not optional, per sentence two. The mark’s controller (not the m must give ghost rock equal to the mark’s influence (3). The mark’s control cannot do so, therefore there is no effect. Sentence three resolves: because the controller cannot pay, the mark must be discarded.
(Clear to me still).
Elmore Rhine was aced by Legendary Holster during the shootout, and remains in Boot Hill through the end of the shooutout. When the shooutout ends, his controller has 2 gr.
Because the mark is not in play when the shooutout ends, the mark cannot be affected by the job’s effects, per the Rulebook, v 1.3.1, p. 25:
Now resolve the effects of a successful job as given on the card, assuming the mark is still in play. If not, the job succeeds anyway but the mark is unaffected.
(See also, Ol’ Fashioned Hanging and why it does not ace dudes discarded during the shootout.)
The second sentence results in no ghost rock payment. (Because it would ‘affect’ the mark… though in this case the controller could not pay Ghost Rock equal to Elmore Rhine’s influence in any event). The third sentence also would have no effect, because discarding mark would clearly affect that mark.
(I’m clear on this scenario, as the issue of ‘affectation’ is not relevant to the resolution of the job).
Elmore Rhine was aced by Legendary Holster during the shootout, and remains in Boot Hill through the end of the shooutout. When the shooutout ends, his controller has 3 gr.
This is where my noggin’ starts to hurt.
It is explicitly the mark’s controller, not the mark, that must do something as a result of the action (pay ghost rock from his/her stash). The mark (specifically, its influence) is clearly referenced when determining the quantum of ghost rock to be paid, but the mark’s influence is not “affected” in any way. There is no change to the mark’s stats, abilities, keywords, traits, booted/unbootedness, or location (on the board or in various game ‘zones’). There is no effect, immediate or ongoing, that is otherwise placed on the mark.
So, that being the case, I currently assume that simply referencing a card’s attribute is considered “affecting” that card, even if there is no game-state change with respect to that dude.
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Is this correct?
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Did I miss something that spells out what ‘affect’ means for Doomtown?
(Extraneous fluff snipped, per request below!)
I recognize this is a corner case, and can certainly play the card in line with the clear instruction given in the previous answer. It’s just the ‘why’ that is really bugging me. I apologize for overthinking this, and for the wall of text above. There’s probably a simple thing I missed, or my brain is just firing oddly today and thus is failing to grock the clarity of the current situation.
