Attack Modifiers

### Reference

 Rule Book: pgs 11, 20, 23, 44 Learn to Play Guide: pgs 8, 22, 24 Rule Book: pgs 25-27, 63

**Attack Modifier Cards**, and the decks they form, is a core mechanic in the Gloomhaven series that adds an element of chance to the Attack ability and, at later stages in the game, empower characters' attacks through the perks system. The cards, which form random shuffled decks placed face-down on the table, primarily modify the damage of attacks, but can also cause attacks to deal no damage, double-damage, or (for some cards added to decks through perks) cause attacks to become augmented with other effects.

Each character, and the monsters as a whole, has a separate attack modifier deck which they use for Attack abilities they perform unless otherwise noted. Each numbers 20 cards as shown below, though characters' decks become modified modified as the game progresses through Perks (see below). Certain defensive items such as armors and helmets may add  modifiers to the equipped character's deck, though this may be circumvented some character through perks. Scenario effects, and gaining **BLESS** or **CURSE** from sources such as donating to the sanctuary and road events can also cause attack modifier decks to be modified.

## Usage

> *This article concerns the mechanics of drawing attack modifier cards, for more information on the resolution of the Attack ability, see its article.*
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When resolving an attack against an enemy, the attacker draws one attack modifier card and applies its effect(s) to the attack. As a general rule of thumb, treat modifier effects as though there were listed as part of the attack ability, as an ability below the attack, or otherwise written on the action card:

***a**a**b**c***
 **Null:**
***b**c***

 **Attack Effects:*a***

 **Conditions:*a***

 **Shield: *a*** | allow the figure to gain the benefit as if they performed a **`Shield`**shieldwhite game***`X`***  ability.

*Some cards from Perks can also create class-specific effects, which will be explained in the related class' article.*

*a:* can only occur in a character deck through perks, cannot appear in the enemy deck.

*b:* requires the attack modifier deck to be reshuffled upon drawing, indicated by the  icon in the lower-right corner.

*c:* added to decks during play through **BLESS** () or **CURSE** ()

### Advantage & Disadvantage

Various game effects can cause attacks to be made with advantage or disadvantage which are related cases that modify the rules of drawing attack modifier cards, creating a comparison of two cards either to skew the result towards a 'better' one or a 'worse' one. This is clear when comparing numerical cards e.g.  is better than . When comparing cards with other effects (such as those gained through perks), these effects are considered to have a positive but indeterminate numerical value for the purpose of comparison e.g.  is better than . Ambiguity can arise however, if comparing cards having effects and differing face values e.g.  vs.  is considered ambiguous. Ambiguity is treated differently between Gloomhaven and its subsequent titles.

Example comparisons
  vs.  | ambiguous

If an attack is made with advantage/disadvantage:

* draw the top **two** cards of the attack modifier deck one after the other
	+ advantage allows the attacker to apply the better card, or if the comparison is ambiguous, the first one drawn / their choice of the two cards drawn. Enemies always pick the more advantageous option.
	+ disadvantage forces the attacker to apply the worse single card of the two. In the case of ambiguity over which attack modifier is less advantageous (such as comparing a numeral versus a condition e.g.  with ), the attacker must use the first one drawn.

An attack cannot benefit from multiple instances of advantage and disadvantage, and an attack with both is considered to have neither.

###  The Rolling Modifier

> *This section describes content only present in Gloomhaven* *and Frosthaven*
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The  rolling modifier is a property that some attack modifier cards gained from perks may have. When drawn,  allows the attacker to continue drawing cards one at a time until a 'terminal' card without  is drawn. The attacker then applies *all* attack modifier cards they drew.

 The rules of advantage/disadvantage are modified when cards featuring  are drawn:

* If the attack has advantage:
	+ if **only one** of two card has , apply **both*.*** (Do not draw any more cards.)
	+ if **both cards** have , begin drawing until a terminal card is drawn. **Apply all cards drawn.**
* If the attack has disadvantage:
	+ if **only one** of two cards has , **ignore**  and proceed to pick worse as normal.
	+ if **both cards** have , begin drawing until a terminal card is drawn. **Apply only the last card drawn**.

In this way, it can occur that a player may, because of cards with , still draw a null despite the mechanic normally preventing this, for example if they draw a  and  they are required to apply both. This is the primary reason for the mechanic's overhaul in Frosthaven.

 These rules were updated in the rule book for Frosthaven:

* If the first attack modifier card drawn **does not have** , ***draw one more card***. Regardless if it also has , draw no more cards and compare the two cards normally and apply the better/worse accordingly.
* If the first attack modifier card drawn **does have**  , ***continue drawing until a terminal card is drawn***, then ***draw one more card***. Regardless if it also has , compare the two last cards as though a normal (dis)advantage pair and apply the better/worse accordingly:
	+ If the attack had **advantage**, **also apply** every card with  that were drawn before terminal.
	+ If the attack had **disadvantage**, **ignore** all other cards with  that were drawn before terminal.

If multiple cards are applied to an attack due to , the attacker may choose in which order they apply.

## Curse & Bless

Attack modifier decks are modified temporarily if the deck's owner is targeted by `CURSE` ('*is cursed'*) or `BLESS` ('*is blessed'*) through the shuffling of the curse and bless cards into the deck. These cards act as  and  cards respectively, but are removed from the deck without being replaced once drawn, do not require it to be reshuffled (unlike ), and are removed at the end of scenarios.

The game recommend the differentiation between curse cards intended for characters and monsters using the icon in their lower-left corner. Curse cards for the monsters' deck feature an 'M' while those for characters' decks feature a star (*Gloomhaven*) or the symbol of of the game expansion (*Jaws of the Lion*). This does not extend to bless cards.

## Perks

> *Main article: Perks.*
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Perks is the major method of customising a character's attack modifier deck by allowing the player to periodically add, remove, or swap attack modifier cards to and from it. A character tuck box includes a second deck filled only with special cards to facilitate this. Each class has a separate list of related perks that synergises with their actions, associated elements, and playstyle that they may choose from throughout the game. For more information about different class' perks, see their individual articles.

## Further Reading

Isaac Childres' commentary on randomness in board games and the addition of the attack modifiers system: https://cephalofair.com/blogs/blog/mitigation-randomness, https://cephalofair.com/blogs/blog/cards-versus-dice-revisited