I played tonight for only the second time ever so I could be totally wrong, but I was under the impression I could attack with Lex Luthor after using my friendly S.T.A.R. Researcher to TK him into place. It even says so right in the PG Powers and Abilities clarification:

The people I was playing with claimed that I could not do this though because No Attack After Taxi was an unwritten rule on par with the other golden rules. They said the same went for Carry. Is that true? I can't find any evidence of this. (I am pretty sure it is not true but they were very adamant so I just went along with it.)

Thanks for your time. Sorry if this is an overly noob question for the forum.

A character that has been carried can only take a free action afterword.

A character which has been carried this turn can’t be given an action (other than a free action) until the beginning of the next turn.

A character placed by a game effect may take a non-free action after being placed, unless the game effect itself prohibits it. In this case, the Carry ability specifically bars non-free actions.

A friendly character placed by Telekinesis may take a non-free action after being placed.

TK=/=Taxi

carry = taxi

The rule is no action after carry. If you are carried you cannot take a non free action.


Sounds like those guys are trying to cheat you. A great way to welcome new players to the game.

You are right.

Also "unwritten rule"? yikes. you show them a written rule that says you can do what you are doing and they tell you the rule that makes it not possible is "unwritten".

sounds like a great group...

Thanks for the quick and helpful responses guys.

I think the people I was playing with took taxi-ing too literally and were not trying to cheat. They did the same thing with locked damage values and were adamant they could not be reduced by defense powers (even though I know they can be.) I just didn't argue, my team was trash and I was going to lose anyway

I also kept Outwitting the one guy's piece that apparently had Power Cosmic (I had no idea that prevented countering until just now when I looked it up.) So I guess it went both ways haha.

I always assume the worst of people. It's just what I do.

Sounds like those guys could use a tutor. This game is so complicated these days. I think I know the rules well and then sometimes I find out I was playing something wrong(recently it was how elevation transitions worked with adjacency).

Hopefully you stick with it, figure out the rules and get those guys on track.

It's rather difficult to take an unwritten rule too literally. Just saying.

"No Action After Taxi" is a shorthand mnemonic. In general it is a bad idea to use those as the basis for how you play. It almost always leads to misunderstandings.
Show them pages 5-6:
"LOCKING
Certain replacement values are referred to as “locked.” Locked combat values ignore all other replacement values and modifiers. Whenever a combat value is calculated and a locked replacement value is applied to it, the locked replacement value is the only replacement or modifier that can affect that combat value, and if a specific number is locked, that number is the only possible result of the calculation."

Then show them page 10:
"DEALING DAMAGE
When an attack hits, the damage dealt to the target is equal to the attacker’s damage value, modified by any game effects. The target takes that much damage, modified by any game effects."

That shows how locking only applies to the combat VALUE in the first and then explains the differences between damage VALUE, damage DEALT, and damage TAKEN in the second.

Then show them the PAC with how damage reducers affect damage DEALT.

Using Outwit to target a Power Cosmic guy is completely legal. You can only do so to counter combat abilities. You just can't target them with it to counter powers.
I was taking away the Flight from my opponent's Shazam! last night. (Quintessence is like PC.)

Showing them that would not have worked. "Locked" meant locked permanently and reducing with damage abilities meant "modifying" to them which the rules say you can't do. It is difficult and frustrating when people try and apply English common sense meanings to rules words that have very specific definitions!

Another one that came up was combat values. I tried to point out from the rules that all 4 things showing in the dial and range were combat values but "combat" meant only attack and defense to them so those were the only things you could Perplex.

I kind of blame Wizkids a little for not having an FAQ and a sample playthrough with some tough situations.

It's just a very complicated game. They have the right idea of sticking to the rules strictly, but you have to know all the rules for that to work.

Writing a rule book is trickier than people think. You have to write a rule and say it is concrete on one page. Then 3 pages later you have to show how that rule can be broken. If nobody ever reads that other page, they play the game assuming that first rule can never be broken.

"Assuming the worst of people may be pessimistic, but it's a handy timesaver." - Unknown (I'm guessing Mark Twain)

This post is full of truth. Yup, this game is convoluted and non-intuitive.

How about team abilities? Because that's one I've seen ruled very inconsistantly.

Depends not the effect's wording. Some say to counter a TA "as if it is a power" in which case you cannot.

My guess is that this group consists of players who have been teaching and misteaching each other without much outside assistance. You can be the Chosen One who will transform their play (and also counter a culture of self-serving rules "interpretations")!

By the way, I'd watch these guys and make sure they are placing and clearing action tokens appropriately. You never know.

A couple of basic definitions that are crucial in this game:
--Damage in all its iterations: locked, dealt, pushing, taken, unavoidable, penetrating . . . Harpua does a great job on this above. "Damage" is to HeroClix as "level" is to D&D.

--The combat values (you've got that down)

--Actions vs. attacks

--"Give" vs. "When this character is given" on the PAC.

It sounds like your own rules knowledge and instincts are quite strong. I hope you stick with the game and have a great time with it!

BTW, it sounds like TK and Carry are troubling your group so remember:
--You can Carry an object and fig (with the appropriate symbols); You can TK a fig who is holding an object; but you cannot Carry a fig who is holding an object.

I once thought that speed and range didn't count as combat values, too. But why wouldn't damage be a combat value?

To my knowledge, only JL52FF-004 Wonder Woman can be carried normally, then given an non-free action to attack.