Bleed modifiers on currently blocked bleed

OK, i feel silly for asking this as I know I should know this one...however, it turns out that my gaming group plays it differently than another one. So, my question is:

Can you increase a bleed (via non-stealth providing modifiers, like Conditioning) that is being currently blocked, presumably in order to try and draw into a stealth/block fail etc?

We've always played it in a way that you cannot, that only currently unblocked bleed can be increased, but there are other interpretations, too.

As far as I know, yes you can. You can goverd, get blocked and then play conditioning, etc, etc, to cycle hand and get the stealth or the S:CE...

Kiddo wrote:

Can you increase a bleed (via non-stealth providing modifiers, like Conditioning) that is being currently blocked, presumably in order to try and draw into a stealth/block fail etc?

Well, as long as you haven't moved on to the "resolve block" phase, sure?

I take it you mean a situation where player A is doing a bleed, player B (prey) declares that minion X will try to block? At that point, A can play action modifiers freely (only one of each, of course), and those may well be bleed modifiers. That's actually a somewhat common event, when A is trying to draw into some stealth (or a combat ends, if the blocker looks nasty .

PetriWessman wrote:

Well, as long as you haven't moved on to the "resolve block" phase, sure?

This is the important part. If you declare that the action is blocked and move onto the rest of resolution you can't back up and play .

However, people forget that when someone is attempting to block and has intercept equal to the acting minion's stealth that isn't instantaneously a resolved block. It will lead to a resolve block if nothing in the game state changes, true. But that's why people can keep playing & until they are finished playing anymore -- because they want to change the game state of the action's current resolution likelihood.

We may often speak colloquially that intercept=stealth therefore means blocked. Yet it's more appropriate to say that the blocker is currently blocking, as in present tense and not yet resolved. Well, naturally until that point when everyone is done playing & and the action state does move into resolution, of course.

Ok, let's get back to the basics, in our case: impulse,.

Say Arika plays basic Govern the Unaligned. Arika has the impulse in the "as announced" window, as she is the acting vampire. She declines to play/use any effects here (Seduction would be used here).
All other players pass on using stuff in the "as announced" window.

Impulse goes back to Arika (we haven't declared any block attempts yet), and she can play the regular action modifiers (Conditioning, Daring the Dawn, Perfect Paragon, ..). Let's say she plays nothing here.
Her prey's Carna declares a block attempt with Carna. This gives the impulse back to the acting minion.
We now check stealth vs intercept. There is currently more intercept than stealth, so Arika can play stealth cards. There is nothing that limits the cards she can play to stealth cards. For instance, Arika could play a Daring the Dawn, or a Conditioning.
Let's assume Arika plays a superior Faceless Night. She keeps the impulse (the acting Methuselah keeps the impulse as long as she plays cards /uses effects).
We check again stealth vs intercept. Stealth is still needed, so Arika can play stealth modififers or any other modififers (Daring the Dawn, Conditioning, ..). Let's say she plays sup' Command of the Beast (also known as "fishing for stealth"). Her controller keeps the impulse.
We now check stealth vs intercept. Stealth is still needed. Let's say Arika plays superior Lost in Crowds. Her controller keeps the impulse.
We now checck stealth vs intercept. Stealth is no longer needed, so Arika cannot play *stealth* cards. Carna, on the other side, is still the minion attempting to block, and sup' Elder Impersonation or Kiss of Ra can be played. Arika declines to play anything and passes the impulse to Carna's controller. Carna plays sup' Precognition (as intercept is needed), and the impulse goes back to Arika's controller. Arika can play sup' Elder Impersonation, Kiss of Ra, Daring the Dawn, ... She declines to do so.
The impulse goes back to Carna (target of the D action), who can play intercept cards (as intercept is needed). She declines to do so. Carna is still the blocking minion.
We then proceed clockwise (from the acting player) to determine if anyone wants to modify Carna's block attempt of Arika's action. Stuff that could modify it: KRCG, WMRH, Maris Streck (all these could increase Carna's intercept), someone using a Draba on Arika, ...
If a player uses such an effect, the impulse goes back to Arika's controler, and we check stealth vs intercept (as above).
Otherwise, when everyone passes, we perform a stealth vs intercept check, and this determines whether Carna's current block attempt is successful or not.
If it is, then the action is blocked, and the combat will start.
Otherwise, Arika's controller has the impulse, and can play stuff like Conditioning, Daring the Dawn, but no longer Kiss of Ra (as Carna is no longer blocking).
Once Arika's controller is done with playing stuff, the impulse goes to Carna's controller, who either declares a block attempt, or declines declaring block attempts. Decline declaring block attempts is a final decision.


I hope this (lengthy) description makes things clearer.
Short version is: You can play Conditioning anytime after the "as announced" window, and before resolution. That's also true for all non-stealth action modifiers (keeping in mind the Golden Rule of Cardtext).

Pascal wrote:

Ok, let's get back to the basics, in our case: impulse.

Suggestion for the future : actually include the impulse in the rulebook. The rule is clear and everything, it's just odd to not see the term in the rulebook.