Ruling · 900.4
A "per" clause whose count is zero
This rule is part of the Comprehensive Rules, where every cross-reference resolves in one page.
- Question
- A rider reads "Restore N vitality per Burning enemy" and nothing is Burning. Does it restore the minimum?
- Answer
- No. A counted clause with a count of 0 resolves to 0 and does nothing.
- 900.4aOrdinary amounts floor to a minimum of 1, so a rider that resolves to a fraction still does something. Counted amounts deliberately do not.
- 900.4bThe reason is that a count of 0 is a real, meaningful board state: no enemy is Burning, no ally is Feral, no wounded enemy exists. Flooring it to 1 would fabricate an effect out of nothing.
- 900.4cThis applies to every "per" clause: per Burning enemy, per Feral stack, per adjacent Tool, per Lucid ally, and the rest of the table in 400.3.
- 900.4dThe one exception is a duration-scaled clause, which floors after multiplying with a minimum of 0 — so it also resolves to 0, just by a different route.
- 900.4eA clause scaled by the unit's rune-effect count behaves the same way: no rune effects means no effect.
See also Burn Feral Tool Shatter