JUDGE! 014: Passives In Depth

It seems like we need to talk about Passive Effects a little more.

So, here's what the Comprehensive Rule Book (Available for Download Here) has to say about Passives:

8.2 Passive Effects  

Some powers or abilities are always in effect and don’t need to be activated or triggered. Passive effects don’t resolve and are mandatory (not optional). They are always active as long as the power or ability can be used, though usually some of their effects only apply to specific situations.

And here's a somewhat relevant passage:

8.1e Optional vs. Mandatory Triggered Effects
If an effect uses “may” it is optional, otherwise the triggered effect is mandatory and must occur if able.

I quote that passage to point something out: "may" being the deciding factor between optional and mandatory only applies to triggered effects. It does not apply to activated effects because you have to choose to give a character an Action to activate them. It does not apply to passives, because passives are by definition mandatory. But a “mandatory passive” is different than a “mandatory trigger.”

Mandatory/Not Optional is a little bit of an artifact in and of itself. Newer players may be shocked to know that there was a time when you could just say “I'm not using X power.” And even if it was showing on your dial, that character was not consider to be able to use the power, because you “turned it off.” Those were optional powers. Non-Optional powers, chief among them being Earthbound/Neutralized, could not be "turned off." They applied whether you wanted them to or not. You could not and did not have to declare them. Which brings us to the more modern view of a “mandatory passive.”

So let's start with the power that everyone jumped on: Defend.

Defend  
Adjacent friendly characters may replace their defense value with this character’s printed defense value.

What Defend being passive means is this: you don't have to declare your character is using it. And considering it's a power that is “used” by adjacent friendly characters, it being a passive just kind of avoids a can of worms on which character would technically be declaring it, etc. So what it means, in practical terms, is when you calculate a friendly character's defense value, if they're adjacent to a character with Defend, you just replace the defense value. There is no “gotcha” of, “well, you didn't say you had Defend on.” It just applies whenever it applies.

It does not mean, however, that you HAVE to replace the defense value. It just means you always have the option to (unless an effect says otherwise, like Pulse Wave). And because there is no limiter or specific trigger, it means that Defend can replace defense values as many times a turn as is appropriate. Any time a defense value would be calculated and the characters are appropriately adjacent.

To illustrate this further, let's look at two other passives.

Probability Control
Once per turn, you may reroll a target character’s attack roll or break away roll. A targeted character must be within range and line of fire, minimum range 4.

So, Prob is a passive, however, it has a few specific limits. It can only be used once per turn (for each character that can use it), it can only reroll attack or break away rolls and the target character has to be within range and line of fire. But, until you actually choose to reroll, that character has the option of rerolling. Again, there's no specific trigger or declaration that has to be made. If an attack roll is happening, Prob is waiting. If a character needs to break away, Prob is waiting.  

One last one that most people are familiar with: Impervious.

Impervious  
Reduce damage taken by 2. // When this character is dealt damage from an attack, you may roll a d6. 5-6: Damage taken is reduced to 0

Any time a character that can use Impervious is dealt damage (as long as it isn't Penetrating or Unavoidable), they reduce it by 2. No one argued that it was a passive.

However, Impervious also has a “may” effect. And that effect (rolling the d6) is a trigger, meaning it's optional. I point this out, to illustrate that many powers (both standard and special) are actually more complicated than a singular label. They can have mandatory passives, mandatory triggers, optional triggers. And to accurately discuss effects and understand what you're playing, you need to understand the basic concepts at play. Not just reduce your understanding to “if it says may, it's optional.” Because it leads to confusion and arguments instead of discourse and understanding.

In the game, all effects fall under a few groupings: Action (MOVE/CLOSE/RANGE/POWER/FREE), Trigger, Passive or Instruction (move, make a close attack, make a range attack, make an attack).

To those saying Defend isn't a Passive, what do you think it is? Because it has to be one of the others, if it's not a passive.

I will admit, when I started writing this article I thought I was going to make the argument that maybe the section on Passives should be changed and the “mandatory” label should be removed. But upon writing it all out and researching the specific sections, I think the mandatory label is actually fine. If anything, I think the comprehensive section should be expanded a little to include some of the explanation I've given here. But more importantly, I think people should double down on reading what the rules actually say. And be open to changing their mind.

If you have something you'd like covered in a future JUDGE! article, email joenexus36@gmail.com  

And if you'd like to read back over past JUDGE! articles, you can check out the archive here.   

Until next time, remember, calling the JUDGE! could be a passive.