RulingHall of Heroes (rules 1.0–1.4)

Expansion card questions: I have a few follow up questions about how exactly [this Impede interaction] works… I assume that Impede…

Question

I have a few follow up questions about how exactly [this Impede interaction] works… I assume that Impede can’t be played whilst a Crisis icon is in play due to the ‘game state change’ rule, that says an ability may not be initiated unless it’s effects are capable of changing the game state. If so, would the same apply if the main scheme had zero threat, and there were no Crisis icon in play? Is the second sentence of Impede’s ability not considered sufficient to meet the game state change condition (assuming it were the first card you played that round)? Would the answer change if Impede had a different secondary effect, such as “Deal 2 damage to an enemy”?
The game state change rules also say that this should be assessed without considering interactions with other abilities. So, is it the case that you do consider interactions with icons? Or does the absoluteness of the ‘cannot’ rule supersede this part of the ‘game state change’ rule? For example, if the Crisis effect were to appear on a side scheme as a simple constant ability, “Players cannot remove threat from the main scheme whilst this scheme is in play” say, would that also prevent playing Impede?

Answer

You would not be able to play Impede while there was no threat in play. You must be able to play the card in order to return it back to your hand, so if you cannot play it because there’s no threat, you could not play it just to return it to your hand either.
And yes, if there is a game effect—either an icon or specific wording—that states you “cannot” remove threat from play, that “cannot” is absolute and prevents the game state from changing in that way (removing threat). You could not play Impede if you “cannot” remove threat.

— Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist