Coat of Arms

[EpicJoe]

Ok, I guess I'm slow, but I don't understand this card. I thought it was a misprint. It seems to me like it should read "+2 Hands" not "-2". Effectively, this card allows you to equip 4 one-handed items or 2 two-handed items, right?

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by EpicJoe

Ok, I guess I'm slow, but I don't understand this card. I thought it was a misprint. It seems to me like it should read "+2 Hands" not "-2". Effectively, this card allows you to equip 4 one-handed items or 2 two-handed items, right?

Hi, EpicJoe. Welcome to the forums!

The effect of the Coat of Arms is to give you two extra Hands. Because Items that take Hands say "1 Hand" or "2 Hands" (or "3 Hands," in one particularly obnoxious case), the Items that give you extra Hands say "-1 Hand" and "-2 Hands." That way, if you add up all the numbers of Hands on the Item cards, you'll get the right answer.

Example: You're wearing the Coat of Arms (-2 Hands) and wielding the Three-Handed Sword (3 Hands). You are currently using -2 + 3 = 1 Hand, meaning you still have one Hand free.

Please let me know if this helped, or if I need to explain it more clearly.

[Signboy]

Originally Posted by EpicJoe

Ok, I guess I'm slow, but I don't understand this card. I thought it was a misprint. It seems to me like it should read "+2 Hands" not "-2". Effectively, this card allows you to equip 4 one-handed items or 2 two-handed items, right?

Item cards that use hands say "1 Hand" or "2 Hands" - so if an item gives you extra hands (such as the Coat of Arms or Two-Handed Sword) the "-2 Hands" indicates that these items have the opposite effect of items that use hands, and instead free up 1 or more hands.

That all made sense in my head, but now that I read it to myself, I'm not so sure.

[pirat]

Hey All,

Quick noob question: Does the coat of arms allow you to carry items that normally you would not be able to carry? (eg. Unnatural Axe that only Warriors can use, or Bow with Ribbons that only Elves can use)

It doesn't specifically say that it can or cannot, and as the GM I've been allowing it to supersede class and race, but I just wanted to check in with some veterans of the game to see how they handle it as basically a cheat or not.

Thanks,
-pirat

[snarky]

Originally Posted by pirat

Does the coat of arms allow you to carry items that normally you would not be able to carry? (eg. Unnatural Axe that only Warriors can use, or Bow with Ribbons that only Elves can use)

It doesn't specifically say that it can or cannot, and as the GM I've been allowing it to supersede class and race, but I just wanted to check in with some veterans of the game to see how they handle it as basically a cheat or not.

No, it just gives you two extra hands to carry items that you are otherwise permitted to carry. In general, if a card doesn't say that it can do something (like function as a CHEAT), then it doesn't.

[MunchkinMan]

There's a fairly important meta-rule that needs to be followed: If you imagine that a card can do something, and the card doesn't specifically cover that which you imagine, then it can't do what you imagine. The Coat of Arms is a perfect example: All it does is give you extra hands, but in no way does it work like a Cheat! card in any possible way. If it was intended to do that, it would say so.