As in title. Let's say I have a dude with Transmutation (W) and he has a Symbiobomb. He moves into what I believe is my ZoC, and I try to hit him with Eraser/Endgame. He declares and ARO, and we measure. Turns out we're 8.1 inches apart, because it's one of those days. What happens to my Symbiobomb? 1) The order declared is idle, so the Symbiobomb does not go away. Or: 2) The Symbiobomb is considered "used" and is removed at the end of the order. For some supporting information, Symbiobombs are no longer Disposable, so that rule about their use no longer applies (see both the Disposable Trait and the Idle skill).
What rules text supports your option 1? That's not a sarcastic response, by the way. You've expended the Short Skill/ARO, as per Effect 1.
From Idle ► In the Resolution Step of the Order, if a Trooper is found to have not met the Requirements of a declared Skill, they instead perform an Idle. In this situation: ► The ammunition of Disposable weapons or pieces of Equipment is spent. ► If the Trooper is in Marker form, it is revealed, and its Model is placed where the Marker was. A symbiobomb doesn’t have ammunition per se, but it follows the same principle.
I think the point Meikyoushisui is trying to make is that: In N3, Idle said: "The trooper is also considered to perform an Idle when he has declared a Skill not allowed by the rules. In such situation, the ammunition of Expendable weapons or pieces of Equipment is spent, too." In N4, Idle says: In the Resolution Step of the Order, if a Trooper is found to have not met the Requirements of a declared Skill, they instead perform an Idle. In this situation: ► The ammunition of Disposable weapons or pieces of Equipment is spent. Even the Important block in N4 feels like it has ended up being overly specific (underlining added): If the Player declares a Skill and, during the Resolution step, he realizes the Requirements are not met, then the Skill is cancelled and the Trooper is considered to have performed an Idle, so they still generate AROs, and lose the ammunition or equipment used, if they declared the use of a Disposable weapon or piece of Equipment. That's the same wording as it was in N3, but Idle no longer has the expansive looking difference in terms. -- I don't know how anyone else played N3, but I think everyone took "the ammunition of Expendable weapons or pieces of Equipment" as if you have a limited number of uses, you've just used one of them, whatever your rule was called. So going to N4 they fixed the inconsistency in the wording, and broke the mechanic, if someone reads that sentence and doesn't dismiss the part I underlined as an aside or example. Note that if Symbiobombs were Disposable, you could get them back using Baggage, among other things. And that's probably why they aren't marked as such.
You didn't expend it though, because you ultimately are considered to have declared Idle, and the Bomb isn't a disposable weapon or equipment, so it doesn't meet the requirements to be lost on an illegal ARO. The third Important box on page 21 is pretty clear that the loss of ammunition or equipment only applies to equipment with the Disposable trait, as is the Idle rule. Symbiobombs do not have the Disposable trait, so they can not meet the requirements to be expended if the skill declared ultimately becomes an Idle due to not being legal. That rule refers to a specific trait and the Symbiobomb does not possess that trait. There is no rules text telling us we should follow the same principle.
It works like Jammer would in the same circumstance is, I think, the point. I'd love to be able to keep it, but thems the breaks.
Jammers work the way they do because they are Disposable, and trigger the rules text of page 22 I mentioned above, as well as the text in the Idle rule (page 87 iirc) about disposable weapons and pieces of equipment. Symbiobombs do not have the Disposable trait and therefore do not meet the conditions described in the text.
Right, which is why you asked the question (which was a good question), and got the answer from @ijw . Perhaps it should have disposable trait as well?
I'm just providing my rationale for the first interpretation, per IJW's request. It should either have Disposable, or rules text that says "This piece of equipment is considered Disposable (1) but cannot regain expended uses through any means, such as Baggage" should be either added directly to the bomb/mate, or to the Assignable (W) trait, though I know they were trying to avoid nested rules.
No you still declared the pheroware - you just perform an idle, as I understand it. For instance, on the page 21 important box: "If the Player declares a Skill and, during the Resolution step, he realizes the Requirements are not met, then the Skill is cancelled and the Trooper is considered to have performed an Idle" This perform language is several places, (pg 36, 40, the Idle box in 87). But I agree the ARO and Resolution in the OES says "considered to have declared". perhaps that's worth cleaning up.
