I swapped email from Steve. Here's how we're going to tease this out.
First, I'm going to do something I don't usually do and actually quote the relevant text: "Bad Stuff: If someone helped you in this combat, let him pick three cards from your hand. If nobody helped you, discard three cards. If you were the helper, pick three cards from the person who dragged you into this fight, then discard three."
If there's no helper, this is simple: the main player discards three cards.
If there IS a helper, then things get more complicated, and that's where I think the card is confusingly worded. The *intent* is, if you were the main player and fail your Run Away roll, your helper gets to take three cards from your hand. It's the helper's wording that is confusing because it implies if the *helper* fails the Run Away, the helper can take three cards from the main player *again*.
That is not what is actually meant. If the helper fails the Run Away roll, the helper must discard three cards. If the main player also fails the Run Away roll, the helper takes cards from the main player first and then discards.
Here's an example. The main player is Andrew and the helper is Zoe.
- Andrew and Zoe both make their rolls: Easy peasy; nothing happens.
- Andrew fails, Zoe succeeds: Zoe takes three cards from Andrew's hand (and, by the strict wording of the card, Zoe gets to choose those cards - rude!).
- Andrew succeeds, Zoe fails: Zoe discards three cards (this is NOT what the wording on the card implies, so this counts as official errata).
- Andrew and Zoe both fail: Zoe takes three cards from Andrew as before, but must then discard three cards of her own.
I hope this helps. Thanks for the good question.