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Hi everybody,

The previous thread discussing this, which I attempted to ask this question in, was just closed on me without the question being answered. The reason being that the thread was four years old. (I suppose it's no less sensible than when people give their reasoning for certain expectations as "because it's [insert year]", but I still don't understand it.)

So now I'm asking (in a new thread in 2016) the exact same thing I was asking before. I'll summarize because I know nobody wants to have to go and read that whole other thread just to answer my question here.

On October 10th, 2012, toxic_wisdom asked about how the Black Staff of Ahriman worked with respect to Ahriman manifesting multiple witchfire powers in a turn. The immediate answer was that it allowed Ahriman to manifest three witchfire powers, provided he knows them. There was some further attempt to clarify what that meant, and the answer that seemed to be accepted was that Ahriman's ability to cast multiple witchfire powers does not allow him to cast the same witchfire power more than once per turn.

Now, four years later, with new rules and FAQ having been released, I am asking if that is still correct. I have Ahriman because I assumed that his staff allowed him to cast the same witchfire power (ex. Smite) up to three times per turn. I am also not aware of any rules prohibiting a psyker from casting more than one witchfire power per turn, but I know there are rules prohibiting a psyker from casting the same power more than once per turn.

So, does Ahriman's Black Staff allow him to cast a witchfire power more than once per turn? If not, then what's the point of it?

For clarity, it was closed because we don't allow thread necromancy like that. You agreed to the rules when you created this account. Thanks

No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

 Yarium wrote:
No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

Cheers!

Yeah, I am hoping that some new rules come with the new plastic model that is being released. It looks pretty nice; I might have bought it if I didn't already have Ahriman. If the rules for him aren't expanded, though, I'm going to be quite disappointed. His staff does precisely nothing right now.


Yeah, not going to discuss the sensibility of forum rules with you when you're of the mindset "it's a rule because it's a rule". I got my answer, you got the question being asked in a new thread. No need to make ominous remarks. Thanks.

He's not making a remark, Motyak is a mod and he's explaining why the last thread was closed. The red text is par for the course, not because he's trying to intimidate you.

We don't revive threads past a month old because there's literally thousands of them, and it would blow the site if they kept coming back. Please don't rag on him for doing his job.

 Yarium wrote:
No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

Sorry Yarium, but the Black Staff actually got an amendment (I don't know what the difference between an amendment and an errata is...) in the existing Chaos Space Marine FAQ (not the draft that's floating about). Can be found here.

Page 60 - The Black Staff of Ahriman, rules
The second sentence should be replaced with:
'It allows Ahriman to attempt to manifest the same witchfire power up to three times per Psychic phase'.

 Quanar wrote:

 Yarium wrote:
No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

Sorry Yarium, but the Black Staff actually got an amendment (I don't know what the difference between an amendment and an errata is...) in the existing Chaos Space Marine FAQ (not the draft that's floating about). Can be found here.

Page 60 - The Black Staff of Ahriman, rules
The second sentence should be replaced with:
'It allows Ahriman to attempt to manifest the same witchfire power up to three times per Psychic phase'.

Wonderful. He's suddenly worth the points. Thank you very much for posting the source!

ProsperinePhoenix wrote:

 Quanar wrote:

 Yarium wrote:
No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

Sorry Yarium, but the Black Staff actually got an amendment (I don't know what the difference between an amendment and an errata is...) in the existing Chaos Space Marine FAQ (not the draft that's floating about). Can be found here.

Page 60 - The Black Staff of Ahriman, rules
The second sentence should be replaced with:
'It allows Ahriman to attempt to manifest the same witchfire power up to three times per Psychic phase'.

Wonderful. He's suddenly worth the points. Thank you very much for posting the source!

Do note that because of the recent FAQ draft, psykers will only be allowed to cast a number of powers equal to their mastery level. So Ahriman could cast the same power thrice but will only be able to cast one other power.

DaPino wrote:
Do note that because of the recent FAQ draft, psykers will only be allowed to cast a number of powers equal to their mastery level. So Ahriman could cast the same power thrice but will only be able to cast one other power.

Would you happen to have a link to that FAQ draft, by chance? I only know how to find them if they come up right in front of me on the GW Facebook page.

ProsperinePhoenix wrote:
Would you happen to have a link to that FAQ draft, by chance? I only know how to find them if they come up right in front of me on the GW Facebook page.

Linky

Q: Is the maximum number of powers a Psyker can use in their turn equal to their Mastery Level, or the number of powers they have (due to Psychic Focus they often have one more power than their Mastery Level)?
A: Unless explicitly permitted to do so, Psykers may not attempt to manifest more psychic powers than the number of their Mastery Level within a single Psychic phase.

The rest of the draft FAQ's can be found by following the links in this thread.

 Quanar wrote:

 Yarium wrote:
No, he cannot cast three of the same power each turn. Yes, this means there's no real extra point to the artefact (aside from its Strength modifier, which is considerable). Shrug. We'll have to wait until they release new Ahriman rules, but nothing in his current rules over-rides this.

Sorry Yarium, but the Black Staff actually got an amendment (I don't know what the difference between an amendment and an errata is...) in the existing Chaos Space Marine FAQ (not the draft that's floating about). Can be found here.

Page 60 - The Black Staff of Ahriman, rules
The second sentence should be replaced with:
'It allows Ahriman to attempt to manifest the same witchfire power up to three times per Psychic phase'.

Thanks Quanar! I was sure the FAQ didn't say that, but this proves (as it always does) to always double-check!