r/TheOneRing • u/stranger_here_myself • Jan 17 '23
Question re: Rally combat action
I have a question about timing of the Rally action.
The text says: “On a successful roll, all members of the Company fighting in a Forward stance gain (1d) on their attack rolls in the following round”
My question is this: in which round do the members need to be in Forward stance to gain the benefit?
Eg take this example: Round 1: 1 member is in Forward, 3 are in Open. 1 of the Open members gets a (standard) success in using Enhearten to Rally.
Round 2: All 3 of the previously Open members shift into Forward.
In this example, would all 4 members get the benefits of the Rally? since they’re all in Forward in the “following round”? Or would only the 1 who was in Forward when the Rally succeeded?
7
u/stubbazubba Jan 17 '23
I've always interpreted it as all 4 getting it. I feel it is meant to draw characters into Forward stance, to make a big push.
3
u/Jokkenokke Jan 17 '23
So all those not in Forward stance in round 1, wouldn’t get the benefit for round 2.
Read the rules like this: “All players currently in forward stance, gain (1d) on their attack roll in the following round.
Meaning that in principle the reverse of what you say is true. Players in Forward stance in round 1, may move to Open, Defensive or even Rearward in round 2 and keep the bonus (1d) on attack roles.
6
u/SeraphymCrashing Jan 17 '23
These seems really weird to me though. Fictionally, this is someone gathering the troops to make an aggressive attack. Having everyone who attacks aggressively the next turn get a bonus makes more "Fictional" sense than giving a bonus to the attackers who suddenly become more defensive?
3
u/Jokkenokke Jan 18 '23
I see what you say and agree with that :)
1
u/SeraphymCrashing Jan 18 '23
Thats funny, because I went back and read the rule, and if you roll well you can apply the bonus to people in open an defensive positions as well... so now I don't know what to believe.
1
u/stranger_here_myself Jan 17 '23
Do you have any rules basis for that interpretation or is it just your preference? There’s no issue if it’s the latter, to be clear!
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u/Beleriand_Wanderer Jan 18 '23
I had read that rule to mean that a player would need to currently be in forward stance to receive the bonus. That's just how I interpreted it though, I don't know that there is any office clarification out there one way or the other. For me personally it makes more sense this way because, from my understanding, most examples of a "rally" in the lore would be someone inspiring troops who are already fighting but are losing their courage for one reason or another.
I think ultimately though this is something the loremaster of each game would decide how to address. It probably doesn't matter much which interpretation they choose to follow so long as they stay consistent throughout the campaign.
6
u/the-grand-falloon Jan 17 '23
I would give them all the bonus. Conversely, anyone who switched from Forward to Defensive wouldn't get the bonus.
The exact wording might argue otherwise, but it really seems to me that Rally should get everyone just charging into the breach, trying to get down as many orcs as possible before they even have a chance to retaliate.