Tainted

[Silverhaze]

Can you remove a tainted condition (with priestess/wand of healing) if there is a deathlock out? i guess it's no problem but want to be sure, because it is some kind of healing/gaining life ...

[aridigas]

This is no problem and works just fine. It's not like you gain Life +3 or something, you just lose Life -3.
The tainted condition is gone and your total life rises.

[Zuberi]

Just to be nitpicky, Tainted is not Life -3. Tainted counts as 3 points of damage on the object. If you were to lose the Life -3 trait while you had Finite Life, you would indeed be prevented from having your Life total increase.

However, you are correct that Tainted can be removed while the object has Finite Life, and that this results in less damage on the creature (since the tainted marker itself counted as damage). Relevant text can be found in the Codex.

The marker counts as three damage, and this damage cannot be healed or regenerated. The marker has a removal cost of 3, and can be removed normally by spells or abilities which remove conditions, even if the Tainted object has the Finite Life trait.

[ClockWork]

It absolutely counts as 3 damage. No argument there, the rules say that exactly, but do you actually add the damage? If you remove a condition maker that counted as 3 damage, you then add 3 damage tokens to the creature? This seems wrong. Also not sure if finite life really matters. The damage Taint counts as already can't be healed or regenerated, and were not adding life, we're removing a poison condition that counts as 3 damage.

I hate to challenge the great Zuberi, but I feel like an official ruling is needed here.

Taint feels like a 3 damage marker always under the effect of finite life

[Zuberi]

I'm not sure what you're confused about, but Tainted is described pretty clearly in the Codex. You don't have to add damage markers along with Tainted because Tainted itself counts as 3 damage. It IS a damage marker essentially. One that can't be healed, but can be removed with condition removal. Removing it is removing 3 damage.

As I said, my comment was just being nitpicky. Aridigas was essentially correct, they just gave incorrect reasoning for it and I didn't want people to get confused in the future when dealing with Life -X effects. Finite Life prevents Life gains through any means (except with Innate Life +X) and that includes preventing life gains via removing the Life -X trait.

[JasonBourneZombie]

It's a little complicated on paper, but what it boils down to is that removing the condition is similar to removing damage. It bypasses finite life in the exact same way that reconstruct does. So long as the word 'heal' is not invoked, it doesn't count as healing specifically.

[Beldin]

I guess it depends on how your mind works.

I see it as a very clear rule block. This is 3 damage that cannot be healed, but only removed. The condition marker has a removal cost of 3. Upon removal of the condition marker the damage is removed, this does not count as healing.

I know there are a few that decrease their life by 3 if they do not have a solution in their book to it. However this is wrong and merely a house rule accepted between players.

[Kelanen]

I know there are a few that decrease their life by 3 if they do not have a solution in their book to it. However this is wrong and merely a house rule accepted between players.

Even with a solution, I normally decrease my Life by 3, but I always state at the time " it's not actually like this, but until it matters, this is clearer..."

[ClockWork]

Opps i misread that...

Zubrei said "If you were to lose the Life -3 trait while you had Finite Life, you would indeed be prevented from having your Life total increase."

and also "Tainted is not Life -3. Tainted counts as 3 points of damage on the object"

I misinterpreted removing tainted while under the effect of finite life would prevent your life total from increasing.

What we are all saying is happening is even under the effect of finite life, removing tainted decreases the damage on the creature while never having any effect on it's Life, Right?

[Coshade]

What we are all saying is happening is even under the effect of finite life, removing tainted decreases the damage on the creature while never having any effect on it's Life, Right?

Yup! Removing the Taint decreases the damage on the creature.

[Beldin]

It is best to think of a tainted counter as a 3 damage counter that cannot be healed or regenerated, only removed by paying its removal cost.

[Kelanen]

It is best to think of a tainted counter as a 3 damage counter that cannot be healed or regenerated, only removed by paying its removal cost.

Well that's exactly what it is... no more, no less.