Is a defense useable against the attack dice rolled as part of the Explode spell?

I'm assuming it is. . .  but I wasn't certain. Also, the attack bar on Explode doesn't indicate if the attack is either melee or ranged and excluded from certain defenses as such.

We played this as the attack being affected by any defense ability successfully rolled. Is this correct?

So played a game last night and I had an elemental cloak on. Well my oponent casts a zone fire spell that said unavoidable. He contended that unavoidable said defenses could not be used so my -2 fire wasn't applicable. I contested that since unavoidable said defenses and referenced a particular page that it meant just that defense p28.

A third person ruled in my opponents favor and thus we went with him which resulted in my mage being killed. I still contest that I was correct. I kinda wish they used the keyword dodge, instead of defense in this case. Defense is very broad term that could be interpreted as meaning armor or this damage type -2.

Who was correct?

So I played my first full game of Mage Wars today with my wife after only having played a couple of apprentice games. She took the Beast Master and I the Priestess and we used the rulebook spellbooks.

I will not recount the game here except to say it was fun and after being chased all over the board by her gaggle of beasts and nearly dying twice.. I actually won  B) . We both enjoyed playing, although the game went close to four hours..   :blink:  A good chunk of that was looking up traits and conditions and clarifying rules, so I'm sure we'll trim that down with more plays.

Anyway I kept tabs on a few questions that came up as we played..

The first is kind of funny... At one point I put her Redclaw Alpha to sleep. With no other way to wake it but to damage her own creature, the only convenient one was Sosruku the Ferret. We played it such that the Taunt condition was required and her Alpha would need to attack the ferret on its next round attack. I killed the ferret before this could happen, but were we playing this right? Was the Taunt condition correctly applied to her own creature or is taunt optional?

Regarding Dazed creatures... this doesn't seem to affect movement, just attack. Is that correct?

Also, can a Dazed creature guard? Any reason a Dazed creature can't move and then quick attack a guarding creature if it makes its role?

Does Armor reduce damage from being 'Bashed' into a wall via Force Push?

Finally, should the cost for Dispel include the Magebind cost if the enchantment is dispelled from a Mage?

Anyway, I'm very happy to have gotten a full game in and am looking forward to tweaking the spellbook for the next mage I play! The Priestess was funner than I expected.

I live in Livonia by a great game store RIW and was looking for players around the area. Livonia is in between Detroit and Ann Arbor.

We could meet at RIW (they will eventually be doing organized play ). Or another good game store Pandemonium in Garden City.

I would like to meet during the week in the eve. 5 or 6 ish. Pandemonium has longer hours so we could meet there a little later even.

Just got my copy. While I'm digesting rules and looking for players to teach / play with, I thought I'd ask what people are doing with their first 3-5 rounds.

I understand that everything is situational to a degree, and even opening moves can be circumscribed by an aggressive opponent. But what are you aiming for with your first moves in different situations? Equipment? Creatures? When are you looking to get a spawn point in play? What's working and what's not?

Would love to hear some people's experiences with their first few rounds... successful or otherwise!

Thanks!