Overlapping hazardous terrain

[Ja9nge]

Hi, 

I have played Malifaux for 3 months now and are still learning the rules in depth. I think I understand how this works from reading the rules, but I am only 90% sure.  

On page 36 of the rules it says that if a model moves through several types of hazardous markers, the model suffers the effect once for each type. Does this also apply to overlapping hazardous effects generated by models or an area surrounding a model?

Say a non-construct marker ends up in a pit trap (hazardous and injured +1), that happens to be within the hazardous vent steam aura of a mechanized porkchop. On top of that, there is also a scrap marker with an 1" hazardous and injured +1 aura because of sparks LeBlanc's hostile work environment. Will the unfortunate model suffer 3 damage and injured +2? I am not sure wether the scrap marker's aura and the porkchops aura count as a marker in this case. 

On page 37 it says: "Hazardous Terrain:After a model moves through or resolves one of its Actions while inHazardous Terrain, it suffers the effects of the Hazardous Terrain after the current Action orAbility is resolved (to a maximum of once per Action or Ability).

Do the once per action or ability read as once per type of aura/marker/terrain as described for markers on page 36?  

[solkan]

The important point is that there end up being three different classes of hazardous terrain, that work differently because of what can be done to them.

- Static hazardous terrain pieces don't move around on the table, and generally don't get created during the game.  If you somehow end up standing on two pieces of hazardous terrain at the same time, you're standing on two pieces of hazardous terrain at the same time and will suffer effects from both each time you set them off.  But that's pretty much a matter of "Don't go crazy and have a ton of separate small hazardous terrain pieces to cover an area (combine them together by putting a terrain boundary around the area), unless you're really into that sort of thing."

- Hazardous terrain markers.  These get created, get moved around, and removed during the game.  It's common to see a pyre markers clustered together, or to have a pyre marker swept across several models.  It's for practical reasons, and to prevent piles of markers getting out of hand, that the rules contain the bit about "all markers of the same name are considered the same terrain piece".  Flip side to that, the developers granted the request to be able to inflict the hazardous marker's effects on models by moving it across them as a boon to those crews, but that's a feature absolutely unique to hazardous markers.

If you're standing on both a Pyre Marker and a Pit Trap marker, that's two different hazardous terrain pieces that will affect you.  If you're standing on two Pyre Markers, because they're the same name it's only one.

- Hazardous terrain auras.  For the most part, these are on models.  Unlike hazardous terrain markers, models move around a lot (particularly, Mei Feng with Vent Steam).  Moving a hazardous terrain aura across a model doesn't inflict the effects of hazardous terrain on the crossed model.  Note that if you've got multiple models with Vent Steam, the "Non-Construct enemy models also treat the area as Hazardous Terrain" effect is subject to the Aura stacking limits.  So if both Mei Feng and Howard Langston have Vent Steam active, a model in both auras is only affected once.  (Likewise, the auras generated by Scrapyard Mines are subject to the Aura stacking rules.)

Otherwise, auras and markers are different things.  If you're standing on a camp fire terrain piece (you defined it as hazardous terrain), and on a pit trap marker, and in the Scrapyard Mines aura, that's effectively three different hazardous terrains that you're standing in.  You'll be affected by each of them.

If you've got a model standing in a Scrapyard Mines aura and a hostile Vent Steam aura, you pretty much treat the two auras as separate hazardous terrain pieces (you're back to the 'So you're standing on two different hazardous terrain pieces...' scenario) and they both have their separate effects.

P.S.  Among other things, the "to a maximum of once per Action or Ability" limit on hazardous terrain is there because both actions and abilities can cause a model to move (and thus leave and enter) hazardous terrain.  Without that limitation, it would be really easy for a model standing near the boundary of a hazardous terrain "piece*" to either vibrate to death (if the hazardous terrain does damage) or accumulate an unlimited amount of Burning (stand a Fire Golem on a Pyre marker and ask it how much Burning it would like).  But that "to a maximum of once per Action or Ability" is once per hazardous terrain "piece".

* Where "piece" means: a hazardous terrain generating aura; a static hazardous terrain piece; or all of the hazardous terrain markers with the same name.

[Adran]

The once per action or ability is referring to the model moving or resolving an action. So you don't move into hazardous terrain and then suffer it's effects twice, once for the moving and once for resolving the action. 

The auras are 2 different hazardous effects so in your example you would suffer3 damage and injured+2.

 

[Ja9nge]

Thank you for your clear answers. I understand this much better now.