Situation: the Stoned Golem and Take Me! Take Me!

[todd]

In a game we were playing last night my son kicked open the door to find a Stoned Golem. He couldn't defeat the Golem on his own. While he was considering asking for help, I played the Take Me! Take Me! card. My strength alone would have easily defeated the monster. At that point my son decided he wanted to wave and walk past. I wanted to attack the monster, but everyone else playing seemed to think that my son's decision to walk overrode my desire to attack. It was my wife's contention that the monster "belonged" to my son since it was his combat and therefore his choice to do what he wanted. My contention was that, sure, he could wave, but I should still be able to attack.

Now, the interesting part here is that I was a level 9 Elf. So, by defeating the Golem I would have won the game. Needless to say, a heated argument ensued. I was out-voted. Who was right, though? Does the player whose combat it is have some kind of "ownership" or executive decision ability?

[snarky]

I think your son was right - the person whose turn it is decides whether to fight or run away (or in the case of the Stoned Golem, wave and pass). Tangential to this is that a Helper may use special abilities (such as the Wizard's Charm ability) to affect the combat on their own volition.

Edit: Per MM's correction below, the person whose turn it is does not "decide" to fight or run away in most instances. If they are winning, they defeat the monster; if they are losing, they Run Away. With the Stoned Golem, though, the person whose turn it currently is can still (I think) decide to "wave and pass" at any time during the combat, whether they have a helper or not and regardless of whether they're winning or losing.

[MunchkinMan]

Snarky is incorrect: Take Me! Take Me! says that the player in combat is FORCED to take the help of the person who played the card. Since todd's son was losing, and therefore eligible for help (one of the conditions of Take Me! Take Me!), he HAD to take todd's help because of how Take Me! Take Me! is worded. Since, they were now winning the combat, they could not Run Away since you must be losing to the Monster(s) in order to do Run Away.

[kotya]

I suppose that "wave and pass" is not the same as "run away". In todd's case, his son have decided to use the Stoned Golem's ability, but not to Run Away from it.

[Clipper]

That's a good point. Yes, he is forced to take the help as he was losing at the time. Yes, the pair are now winning the combat and todd's son can no longer choose to run away. But todd's son should still be able to use the Stoned Golem's ability to ignore it and walk past, thus forfeiting the level and treasure and denying his elf helper a kill that would win the game.

That is, unless the Stoned Golem's ignore and walk past option is only an option if both players agree that they do so, which is todd's argument.

[snarky]

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

Snarky is incorrect: Take Me! Take Me! says that the player in combat is FORCED to take the help of the person who played the card. Since todd's son was losing, and therefore eligible for help (one of the conditions of Take Me! Take Me!), he HAD to take todd's help because of how Take Me! Take Me! is worded. Since, they were now winning the combat, they could not Run Away since you must be losing to the Monster(s) in order to do Run Away.

So even facing the Stoned Golem, the main player can no longer choose to walk by and not fight? Or does that choice have to be made once, and when you choose to fight you can't change your mind later?

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by snarky

So even facing the Stoned Golem, the main player can no longer choose to walk by and not fight? Or does that choice have to be made once, and when you choose to fight you can't change your mind later?

I had a different card floating around in my head, I think. The Stoned Golem allows you to ignore it, it's not just a free Run Away, so yes, the son could have chosen to ignore it. However, he did have to accept his father's help. Here's a question I'm struggling to find an answer for: Why turn down free help? Take Me! Take Me! says that you can't ask for reward, so what was the upside of taking over the help (other than preventing someone else from helping), and what was the downside to free help that giving up a Level and Treasure was worthwhile?

[snarky]

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

I had a different card floating around in my head, I think. The Stoned Golem allows you to ignore it, it's not just a free Run Away, so yes, the son could have chosen to ignore it. However, he did have to accept his father's help. Here's a question I'm struggling to find an answer for: Why turn down free help? Take Me! Take Me! says that you can't ask for reward, so what was the upside of taking over the help (other than preventing someone else from helping), and what was the downside to free help that giving up a Level and Treasure was worthwhile?

The dad was a L9 Elf and would have won the game, according to the OP.

[MunchkinMan]

Originally Posted by snarky

The dad was a L9 Elf and would have won the game, according to the OP.

I went back and read that twice, and completely missed that second paragraph both times. . . Oy. . .

[Andrew Hackard]

This is one I'm going to talk over with Steve. I really dislike having someone in combat forced to accept help they don't want, especially when it could lose them the game. On the other hand, the card text seems pretty clear. So I'm going to close the thread for now and come back soon with the official ruling.