Monster Turns
I'm just confused about focus. Can you explain it? Finding a focus for a monster can be tricky in certain circumstances, but it follows some very basic rules. First of all , is the monster performing an attack on the ability card it drew? If not, pretend as if it is performing a melee attack (i.e. it wants to be adjacent to an enemy). Next , find the minimum distance it needs to move to get within range (and line-of-sight) to attack an enemy. It doesn't matter if the monster can't get within range with the movement it has, as long as there is a path to eventually get within range, it will still consider this path the optimal path. The enemy/enemies that are within range (and line-of-sight) at the end of this shortest path are considered the "closest." Side note on negative hexes (traps or hazardous terrain): negative hexes are considered obstacles when determining this path unless there is no path except through the negative hexes . The path can be ten steps long if the enemy avoids the negative hex and two steps long if it goes through the negative hex, it will still choose the ten-step path as long as it is available. Basically, monsters will move through as few negative hexes as possible. In the case where the monster can move the same number of spaces to get within range (and line-of- sight) of multiple enemies (either because it starts its turn within range or multiple enemies or through some other situation), proximity (i.e. number of hexes they are away, not counting through walls) is then checked as a tie-breaker for "closest." Okay, now , if there is only one closest enemy within range at the end of that path, that is the monster's focus. If there are multiple closest enemies within range (and line-of-sight), the focus is the enemy among those tied who has the lower initiative for the round. Note that there may be some cases where a monster can't find a focus at all. In order to obtain focus on an enemy, there must be an unblocked path to an open hex where it could eventually move to and target the enemy. If an enemy can't find a focus, it doesn't move or attack on its turn and just performs any other abilities written on its card. Can you explain in more detail how monsters interact with invisible characters? Invisibility works the same regardless of whether it is an invisible character or an invisible monster. Monsters can't focus on invisible characters, move through them (unless flying or jumping), or target them with any attacks or other targeted abilities (an ability like "CURSE, target all enemies within range," for instance, wouldn't affect the invisible character even if he/she were in range). Monsters essentially treat invisible characters like obstacles, but may occasionally affect them with non-target effects (such as splash damage). Once again, however, an invisible character will never be focused on by a monster. Invisibility can create an edge-case where a monster is unable to find a focus, either because all of its enemies are invisible, or an invisible character is standing in a door or some other one-hex passageway to prevent a monster from finding any viable path to get within range of an enemy. Blocking a passageway like this doesn't always result in not finding focus. Flying or jumping enemies can ignore the obstacle (invisible character), and ranged enemies may still be able over it, depending on the value of their range and the positions of the other characters.
65
Powered by FlippingBook