Reply: Android: Netrunner:: Rules:: Re: Using Femme Fatale to bypass ice after chum DOES NOT set off chum

by Butaman551

Syncitia wrote:

From the FAQ:

“Bypass”
When an effect allows the Runner to “bypass” a piece of ice,
he immediately passes that ice and continues the run. Any
subroutines on the ice bypassed are not broken. Bypassing
prevents any unresolved conditional abilities that met their
trigger condition when the ice was encountered from resolving.

emphasis added.

I have been called out in forums in the past for stating that chum wouldn't fire off if Femme Fatale was used on the ice after it. I would just like to draw attention to this excerpt. This is the official ruling in the FAQ. Yes, the subroutines are not "broken," but bypassing prevents the trigger condition (next ice encountered) from resolving.

I have a feeling that the majority of us have been playing this wrong and I just wanted to let the masses know.

I'm afraid you are both misinterpreting the FAQ on this issue. Chum does in fact cause the net damage if the ICE following it is bypassed using Femme Fatale. Actually, the FAQ entry you quoted confirms it.

When it said "Bypassing prevents any unresolved conditional abilities that met their trigger condition when the ice was encountered from resolving", they are referring to the 'When the runner encounters..." text on cards like Data Raven and Tollbooth. Those are conditional abilities. The rulebook even uses the same terminology when explaining conditional abilities.

The effect from Chum is NOT a conditional ability. It does not say "When the runner encounters the next piece of ice." It says, "The next piece of ice the Runner encounters during this run has +2 strength. Do 3 net damage unless the Runner breaks all subroutines on that piece of ice. " That is a constant ability. By not breaking the subroutine on Chum, you have created a constant ability that will fire off if it is not satisfied. The wording for Conditional Abilities is very specific.

In fact, the FAQ entry you quoted includes the line "Any subroutines on the ice bypassed are not broken" just to reiterate the fact that Chum would still fire off. I guess they could have made that more specific by mentioning Chum directly though.

So bottom line, Chum would still fire off because it is not a conditional ability. Conditional abilities contain the text "When the runner..." or "Whenever the runner...". Chum does not use that text and is not conditional, therefore it is not included in the FAQ entry you quoted and bolded above. It creates a constant effect that only fires off if the subroutines on the next ICE it encounters are not broken. Since an ICE must be encountered before it can be bypassed, the effect fires off if you use Femme Fatale to bypass it.

But don't take my word for it. Lukas answered this exact question directly (to a rules question sent into FFG) in this thread: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/852470/chum-question/pag...

Question:

There's some disagreement about how Chum interacts with ICE that is bypassable. For example:

ICE #1 is Chum. The runner does not break its subroutines.
ICE #2 is the ice that Femme Fatale may pay to bypass.

Assuming the runner pays to bypass ICE #2 with Femme Fatale, does the runner then take damage from Chum?

Any help you can give would be most appreciated!

Answer:

Thanks for the question. Yes, the Runner will still take damage from Chum since the ice was encountered, and bypassing does not break subroutines.

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Lukas Litzsinger