Maybe we shouldn't have used Absolute Zero in our first game, but he seemed more interesting than most heroes.
Set-up and Cards/Powers in Play:
RA has in play the ongoing, limited effect IMBUED FIRE ("Increase all fire damage by 1. Change the damage type of damage dealt by hero targets to fire.").
LEGACY has in play the ongoing, limited effect INSPIRING PRESENCE ("Increase damage dealt by hero targets by 1.") and has used this turn his basic character power GALVANIZE ("Power: Until the start of your next turn, increase damage dealt by hero targets by 1.").
ABSOLUTE ZERO has in play the limited equipment FOCUSED APERTURES ("Increase cold damage dealt by Absolute Zero by 1."), the limited equipment module ISOTHERMIC TRANSDUCER ("Whenever Absolute Zero is dealt fire damage, Absolute Zero deals 1 target that much cold damage."), and COOLANT BLAST ("Power: Absolute Zero deals 1 non-hero target X cold damage, where X = the amount of fire damage that has been dealt to Absolute Zero since the end of your last turn.").
Also critical to this discussion is ABSOLUTE ZERO's one-shot hero card MODULAR REALIGNMENT ("Select 1 equipment card from your trash and put it either into your hand or into play. Absolute Zero deals himself 1 fire damage and 1 cold damage.").
Current Turn:
ABSOLUTE ZERO to play: he plays his MODULAR REALIGNMENT CARD, followed by using his COOLANT BLAST power.
Ultimate Question:
With everything in play, how much damage is dealt to ABSOLUTE ZERO this turn, and how much can he give to another target? If there are more than one possibilities that the players may choose between, what are all those possible choices? Show how you get to your answer.
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Specific Questions in Greater Detail:
MODULAR REALIGNMENT first recovers an equipment for AZ then second causes him to deal 1 fire damage to himself. Is that 1 fire damage increased by 3 (from IMBUED FIRE, INSPIRING PRESENCE, and GALVANIZE)? Is that increase to self inflicted damage optional or mandatory?
Assume AZ wants to do as much damage to himself as possible, and accepts all damage enhancements (if they are optional) and takes 4 fire damage.
Finally, MODULAR REALIGNMENT causes AZ to deal 1 cold damage to himself. Can that cold damage be enhanced through the FOCUSED APERATURES and increased by 1 before it is turned into fire damage and increased by 1 more due to IMBUED FIRE? And is that second, originally cold damage dealt by MODULAR REALIGNMENT itself increased by 2 for LEGACY's bonuses (INSPIRING PRESENCE and GALVANIZE)? So can AZ use the second self inflicted damage attack mandated by the card to deal a second attack to himself of 5 fire damage?
With each of those two attacks, can the responding attacks made due to his ISOTHERMIC TRANSDUCER (which are originally cold attacks equal to the two fire attacks) be independently enhanced by the FOCUSED APERTURES first (+1), then converted and enhanced by the IMBUED FIRE (+1 more), and then enhanced by INSPIRING PRESENCE and GALVANIZE (+2 more)? So did AZ just make two automatic and reactive attacks at enemies of 8 and then 9 fire damage?
Finally, AZ uses his COOLANT BLAST power to make a cold attack based on the fire damage he has been dealt (9 points?) which can then, correct me if I'm wrong, be enhanced by the the FOCUSED APURTURES, converted to fire and be enhanced again by the IMBUED FIRE, and be enhanced by INSPIRING PRESENCE and GALVANIZE. So he makes a third attack of 13 fire damage based on his power.
So, under this ordering (if legal play), AZ has taken 9 fire damage and dealt 30. Right?
And then he draws a card to finish his turn.
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Bonus Hypothetical Questions:
1. Can AZ play the MODULAR REALIGNMENT card even if he doesn't have equipment in his trash because he wants to do the fire and cold damage to himself to make some massive attacks? Or would that play be disallowed (is the first action of the card mandatory always, mandatory if possible, or optional)?
2. Suppose RA had used the the ongoing card FLESH OF THE SUN GOD ("Power: Hero character cards are immune to fire damage until the start of your next turn.") on his turn, prior to AZ's turn described above. Would AZ have then not taken any of the 9 damage from his self-inflicted attacks caused by the MODULAR REALIGNMENT (since they would have both been fire damage due to IMBUED FIRE), but still dealt out all the damage allowed by his ISOTHERMIC TRANSDUCER and COOLANT BLAST, since that fire damage was dealt to him, even though he was immune to it? Or does being immune to the damage mean no damage was dealt to him?
3. Suppose an environment card allowed AZ to use two powers on his turn. Could he have done two of the same power (e.g., two COOLANT BLASTS)?
4. What if he could use two powers, but did not or could not use two COOLANT BLASTS, how much damage would he have done with his MODULAR REALIGNMENT followed by his basic character power of THERMODYNAMICS ("Power: Absolute Zero deals himself 1 fire damage or 1 cold damage.") followed by a COOLANT BLAST? Does the THERMODYNAMICS deal an extra 5 to himself (choosing cold then focusing, imbuing, inspiring, and galvanizing it) and dealing out an extra 9 attack on an enemy (on top of the 8 and 9 attacks from the MODULAR REALIGNMENT processed through the ISOTHERMIC TRANSDUCER each time), and finally making that COOLANT BLAST deal 18 damage?
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Thanks for your help and thoughts.
The question is extremely complex, but it doesn't take a lot of cards or anything. I suspect it would be a pretty common situation with those three heroes: Legacy, Ra, and Absolute Zero.