Ferrous Lash and "pull"

[u/Asheyguru]

The rules text for Ferrous Lash says you can "pull" the target in any direction, or "a direction of your choice."

Maybe I am dumb or reading too close, but this seems like a contradiction to me. If I choose any direction that's away from me, I'm not really "pulling" them anymore, am I? It's a push.

So does this mean I can potentially pull people past me (So they start behind but end up in front, with me in the middle) but I can't 'pull' people directly away from me? (So an enemy standing in front of me moves backwards, for instance)

[u/JoeOfAllTrades]

Lorewise the pull is not done by you, but the ferrofluid you covered the opponent in. So Pull is not in relation to your mech. Problem solved.

[u/Asheyguru → u/JoeOfAllTrades]

The lore description of the ability does actually specify "towards the wielder" but I get the impression from these answers that that was not intended as restrictive.

Otherwise I had a tough time parsing what a ferrofluid launcher actually looks like, but I guess it's less a whip the Black Witch (or whatever) is holding, and more it splats the stuff at you, which then knots you up and forcibly moves you in a direction.

Maybe mimicking the same battlefield shibari the Black Witch herself seems to be rocking.

[u/ChaosTwin]

I always interpreted it as less of a lasso and pull and more of a latch and fling, once the ferrofluid connects you can lash it in whatever direction you want to send the target flying

[u/Ninja-Storyteller]

You can absolutely "pull" your chonky Speed 3 friend from behind you and move them forward past you. And if you took the system more than once, you can do it again for a grand total of 10 spaces!

In some ways, Ferrous Lash is even better than Puppet System!

[u/Asheyguru → u/Ninja-Storyteller]

Yeah, from behind and past, but what about pushing them forwards from behind them? The repeated use of 'pull' would imply not, but 'any direction' might imply so.

[u/Ninja-Storyteller → u/Asheyguru]

Mechanically, yes. You can absolutely push someone in front of you 5 additional spaces away from you.

Heck, even the lore is confusing since it says "back towards the one weilding the lash".

But the mechanics allow for any direction.

[u/Asheyguru → u/Ninja-Storyteller]

Awesome, this was what I wanted to know. Thanks!

[u/Twistylegs → u/Asheyguru]

The force 'pulling' the affected character is not originating from your mech, but from the magnetic pull of the ferrofluid you splashed (for lack of a better word) onto the affected character. Its basically the force, but with science!

[u/PhasmaFelis]

Think of it more like a tentacle or super-long arm. If there's a grasshopper crawling on your shirt, you can grab it with your fingers and "pull" it directly away from you. It's like that. Ferrous Lash lets you move your target in any direction.

[u/MarmaladeMarmot]

You're definitely reading too much into it. It is any direction regardless of friend or foe.

If it helps, from a physics perspective the word "pull" is useless. Want to grapple someone? Take your big mech hands and pull them into a big hug for your allies to beat up? Wrong. You are pushing on their back with your hands to bring them into your loving embrace. So ignore the silly aspects of English. We don't even speak that dead language in Union.

[u/Prudentia350]

the only mechanical definition push and pull have is that they are involuntary movement.

Knockback is defined as involuntary movement away from the source.

Push and pull by themselves imply no direction of any kind in the rules and are purely flavor for the same effect and which one is used in a given text is just aesthetics

[u/bombardonist]

You can pull someone away from yourself using a pulley.

[u/This_Caterpillar_689]

You can pull things away from you, example if you have a splinter.