This one has been bothering me for a couple of days now.

Batman is in hindering and wants to attack Clayface who is 7 squares away (conveniently located next to hindering terrain).
1. Batman declares a close combat action
2. Batman is placed 6 squares away in hindering adjacent to Clayface.
3. Batman targets Clayface.
4. Clayface rolls for shape change and makes the Shape change roll. Batman cannot make the attack. There are no other valid targets.

Now, what happens next?

A. Nothing. There is no other possible action for Batman to take so his action ends and he takes the token.

B. Batman must choose another non-free action and make the action from the point of placement.

C. Because the action was made illegal from the S/C roll, the placement is also not valid (see FAQ). Batman is returned to his orginal position and must now declare another non-free action using OOTS to place in a different position.

It seems to me that the sticky part here is that the placement of Batman requires a legal action, but the placement is not any kind of action at all. It is simply placement dependent on a legal action that is to follow. So what happens when the action that should have been legal prior to placement becomes illegal after placement?

It's the same with Charge and Shape Change. The movement portion of the action is legal, and the close combat action is still legal at the time of the movement. It only becomes illegal with the success of the Shape Change roll. So, in your case, during the "Out of Shadows" portion of the turn the close combat action is still legal, and Batman would be placed next to Clayface. Clayface makes his Shape Change so Batman now has the option of a move action (which would require Break Away) or to just sit and take the token since Batman can no longer make the attack (the close combat action is still legal, just not the attack).

I believe the shapechange roll should be made when the action is declared and not after Batman is moved, so I think the sequence goes:

Batman declares he is attacking Clayface, via OOTS. Clayface rolls Supersenses. If the roll is successful Batman is not moved and makes another action from the same square. If the roll is not successful, Batman is moved and makes the attack.

I think is going to come down to "action" vs. "attack." The close combat action can still be declared against Clayface, and Bats can move via OotS. Clayface rolls Shape Change (because Clayface is now the target of an attack as opposed to an action) and gets it. Bats can no longer make the close combat attack given by the close combat action. The close combat action was still made, but game effects negated a portion of that action. The close combat action was legal at the time Batman was place via OotS so I don't see any problems.

You have almost persuaded me, good sir, except that now I don't know what to do with combat actions and shape change. If I targeted someone with Exploit Weakness and they hit their shape change, must I select an alternate action or do I just token the figure and go on? And if the answer is to choose another action, how is that different than the OOTS scenario?

well first if there is a legal tartget for you to attack you must make that attack(so if there is a wall,object,mystic).
If there is no legal target then another action must be given of the same type.
From the PG
"The last sentence reads ―If the action becomes illegal, the attacker must choose another legal action to perform, if possible. The selected action must be free or non-free based on what action type was given to it that led to the attack."

And that is what bothers me here, Maraud.

So you are saying that in the Batman/Clayface scenario, batman should be able to take another non-free action?

yes since it was made illegal with the SC roll.
With RS/Charge/HSS its not the power action that allowed them to make the attack it was the free action that allowed them to make the attack, so since they were all ready omitted to that action they could not take back the power action that was require to activate the RS/Charge/HSS, and since there are no other free actions that can happen in the middle of an action there is nothing that they can do.

That is why i also believe that you make the roll before moving them, but if the SC roll is made they have to look to see if there is another legal target from the square that they move to.

agree 100%.

that's the one I am having trouble with since the power states that the placement happens before the action. So how can the shape change roll happen before the action?

It can happen one of two ways.
The way i see it you have to declare the action, when you declare the action and say you are targeting figure X they roll, if they fail you place him there before the attack is made then make the attack.
(this is different from charge/HSS/RS as in that with those you declare you r Action to activate the power first then move to your square and declare the attack.)

The other way it can go is.
You declare the action, place batman, they roll SC they they win the roll and there are no other legal targets, the action is illegal then you place him back where he was then assign a new action.

Either way if the action become illegal he would be placed/be in the starting square and given another action.

Now there may be some very rare cases where it matters on which happens placed before or after but i do not know any off of the top of my head.

this is what I believe should happen. Since the action can't legally happen, the placement is also illegal. Back bats up to original position and make a legal action from there.

Hmmm......none of the rules gurus have chimed in. Does this mean BigDaddyHub's got it right? His position seems sound to me. Not the way I would have ruled it prior to this discussion, but I can't argue with his logic.

BTW, prior to this discussion, I would have gone with Option B in the OP.

ALSO BTW: when I say "rules gurus" I mean folks like Nbperp, Harpua, Quebbster, Drunky, etc.....the folks that just never seem to get it wrong. No insult was intended to anyone.

LOL- I love how you are covering your bases with putting in the "No offense!" Don't worry, I am okay with not being a Rules Guru. Those other guys totally paid their dues to be considered a guru.

But I'm afraid that Normalview might not be as generous as me.

When Clayface successfully rolls for Shape Change, Batman has to be given a legal action from the square he was put in. Worse case scenario, that can be a move action of 0 squares. But he was given a non-free action, he made his placement, and now he HAS to continue to perform a non-free action.

The PG's goal is to explain what one has to do in the case of Shape Change and also in the case of OOTS. The word "legal" is being used in each context to communicate that idea, not to communicate a specific game term that is related to each other. I will endeavor to make this more clear in the PG.

RESOLUTION!

Thanks Norm. I appreciate your input here. I will now let this go.