The Wraith's inventory barrage + micro-targeting computer

If The Wraith discards micro-targeting computer for her inventory barrage card, will she still get the benefit of +2 to projectile damage? My guess is no because the card is no longer there...but I just want to make sure.

Also, can powers on ongoing cards can be used on the turn they come into play? I used to play Magic and am used to the summoning sickness mechanic.

Thanks.

That is correct, since Micro-targeting Computer is destroyed, it will no longer give the +2.

Yes powers on recently played ongoing/equipment cards are capable of being used.

Even in Magic, summoning sickness only applies to creatures, and the only hero cards in SOTM which resemble creatures are Unity's robots (though, to be clear, they function normally on the turn they're played).  Think of an Ongoing such as Ra's Blazing Tornado as like a global enchantment, or an Aura played on Ra himself, whichever makes it easier for you; regardless, if you put Firebreathing on a creature, you can pay R to give that creature +1/+0 right away, and Powers are likewise usable the turn they're played.

As a side note, you do not 'discard' equipement, which implies that you send them to the trash from your hand. Rather, you destroy equipment, which involves sending your equipment from the field to your trash :)

...preferrably while the villain(s) are standing in the middle of the Wraith Cave's explosion. She goes through more hide-outs that way.

That is correct, since Micro-targeting Computer is destroyed, it will no longer give the +2.

Are we sure about that?  When the Explosive Wagon destroys itself, the official ruling is that it still gets its damage bonus even though it's destroyed.  Why is this different?

Wagon has an effect that triggers on its own destruction. The card needs to stay in play as that effect resolves (cards in the trash can't resolve effects obviously. That is the entire basis of the End of Days/BeeBot ruling after all). 

Micro has no such triggered effect. Also, barrage deals damage equal to the number of cards destroyed, so that presumes the card is destroyed and gone before the damage portion gets a chance to resolve. 

Sounds legit.

Wait, what ruling is that?

You can destroy Bee Bot with EoD, and then trigger its efffect to destroy EoD. Essentially, destroying all villain stuff and saving all hero stuff (except Bee Bot).

I will have to try that, eventually.  No time soon, as I'm thoroughly sick of End of Days dominating games, but eventually.  It's sort of neat that the Catholic hero and the Jewish one would synergize so.

Where does it say Unity's Jewish? I know she's from Israel, but that doesn't prove anything.

Wraith's definitely Jewish though, I remember one of the >G guys posting that.

Her name seems pretty (culturally) Jewish Israeli (as opposed to, say, Palestinian). "Jewish" is typically used as a cultural term when referring to Israelis; according to Wikipedia, 43% of Israeli Jews identify as secular.

According to wikipedia, Ofakim is 99.7% Jewish and other non-Arab with no significant Arab population. If this means anything.

EDIT: It is also worth noting that the golem is from Jewish tradition.

Interesting! I hadn't paid attention to the city of her birth. Someone who is more up on chronology: when would she have been born, given her current age of 19 (if it's determined)? The city seems to have changed substantially over the years.

EDIT: It is also worth noting that the golem is from Jewish tradition.
However, she is not portrayed as any sort of rabbinical scholar…

I was using "Jewish" in a religious sense, since Envisioner was talking about Unity in reference to Fanatic being Catholic.

Incidentally, I have a friend who's from a Jewish family (and therefore of course Jewish in one sense) but Catholic by religion. She claims to be Jewish, but not Jewish. So that's perfectly clear then.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at.  Why else wouldn't they just be called Robots?

There are perfectly legitimate reasons to call those things golems outside of the fact that Unity is at least culturally Jewish.

Yes Golems are derived from Jewish folklore, but the connotations associated with words like Robot, Android, Mech, Golem, ect, are very different. Android for instance draws images of having biological and mechanical functions and closely resembling human physiology. Robots are your run of the mill A.I. controled pieces of metal. Mechs conjure images of a Robot with a pilot. Golems on the other hand are anthropomorphic beings, which has a slight distinction from Androids who are still mostly AI based. They have real human emotion and thoughts that are not coming from mechanical proccesses like electric currents and circuits, but imbued from some outside source.

Unity's bots all have distinct personalities imbued in them, at least that is the sense that I get. So Jewish or not, Golem is the most appropriate and accurate term for the things she creates.

I have to be honest, I have never heard of that distinction between andriod and golems. However, I think their personality isn’t theirs, but rather programmed in, which you could so with an android.
I see two issues that say they shouldn’t be called golems. First, Swift Bot talks and golems can’t talk. Second, golems are made from large clump of earth, and are not mechanical or metal. So to go counter to these and call them golems seems to be intentional.
Also, Christopher has already shown he is very knowledgeable in this stuff, and we analyze the game based on this info. If rhis wasn’t on purpose, iy would be an amazong coincidence.

I'm a player of pen and paper RPGs, which uses all sorts of material to create golems, including metals.

Like most mythological creatures, there's substantial variation in the depiction of golems. Unity's golems do differ substantially from the usual depiction; there's also no indication of words being important in their contruction.

One reason for using the term "golem" might be to indicate that they are at least partly magical in their construction, and not strictly mechanical.

I was under the impression golems could be fashioned out of any innanimate material. Though as you point out, clay is a very common material but mostly due to the area of the world those myths were born in. 

Also Pydro, you might be interested in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice_Adept. The books are set in two worlds, Phaze and Proton, one ruled by magic and the other technology. There are deliberate parrallels drawn between golems and robots within that frame.

Yes Golems have a "programed" personality, but the source of magic vs. tech is a very facinating one to me at least ("programed" has very specific connotations in this day and age). And as for Swift Bot talking, what is important with Golems is the whole personification thing of the previously innanimate object. And in that vein, Unity's bots personality and speech all fit that bill.

I will admit I am not that knowledgeable in the specifics of rpgs, but more so in the Jewish tradition of golems. It didn’t come across, but I meant to emphasis the mechanical aspect not the material. However, it would be strange to go into rpgs here and not with the the other characters. The Matty thread is all about speculation based on the source not rpgs.
Regardless, short of Christopher saying no, Unity’s name, birthplace, and golem word choice hint that she might be Jewish.

It doesn't solely reside in RPGs, it was just the first thing that came to my mind when it was brought up that Golems are made of clumps of land. As my experience with golems only goes to modern day. Which from my limited expertise in the field, says golems can be made of anything, but are magically made.

I was only here to toss in about golems made of things other than earth. Character's religious standings isn't something I really pay attention to.

I guess when I see golem vs android/robot, I am not thinking of something built with moving parts just to move, with the only difference being whether it is magically animated. A golem, regardless of marterial, would just be something in the rough shape of human. Whether this is earth, metal, bone, woord (are there others), doesn't really matter. To me, a golem isn't mechanical. Although this is also the modern day image creeping in. Traditionally, it was only earth.

Of course I am taking a much more modern angle to how I view Golems. And especialy since we have been focusing on Unity and the fact that her constructs are called Golems, my approach is more about why that term was chosen over "robots" as Envisioner mentioned earlier. So when considering the historical context of Golems and what they mean when making connections to Unity's constructs, I think Unity's power of technopathy is telling. That is the whole magic vs technology angle is right there blurred in her powerset. She is a mixture of all these ideas no doubt.

I imagine that Unity's little friends are keyworded "golem" for several possible reasons.

1) To distinguish them from Omni-X and Omnitron, who are obviously robots (even if they are not keyworded as such) and obviously not the same kind of construct as everyone's favourite Raptor Bot. A card directing you to affect a "robot" in some way would cause endless confusion and have players trying to use it illegally on Omnitrons because they could quite rightly argue that they are robots too.

2) To reserve the keyword "robot" for future cards. I consider this unlikely, due to the Omniton issue.

3) The concept of traditional golems is thousands of years old (dates back to when mechanical objects were very simple) and relates to God creating Adam from clay (and presumably others - I don't pretend to be an expert in biblical stuff). Unity's golems are described in her bio as "mechanical golems", i.e. golems, but mechanical rather than the traditional clay type. "Mechanical golem" is a bit long for a keyword!

4) There isn't a good word other than "golem" for an autonamous being that is (magically) constructed from inanimate objects. "Robot" implies entirely mechanical, constructed in a mundane fashion rather than with magic. "Construct" is too vague.

Anyway, back to religion. While it's reasonable to assume that Unity's culturally Jewish*, we have no information as far as I know about whether she's Jewish in a religious sense.

* Assuming such things can sometimes lead to mistakes though - my friend Kim appears totally English in her accent, mannerisms, cultural behaviours, etc, and has an English hometown. But she's American, and has the US passport to prove it. Buyer beware.

Unity's constructs are golems, she isn't building them in a lab and writing programs for them, she can construct them in the field without carying around the neccessary software and hardware to create her golems.

Her powers are Ferro-Kinetics and Technopathy.  She is constructing them with her mind out of metal (ferr-kinetics) and controlling them with her mind as well (Technopathy)

Their personality would not be programming, it would be Unity giving them that personality as she controls them.

It's like she's a very creative little kid, she builds her little freedom 5 toys and pretends that they are fighting bad guys.

Only the toys are life-sized metal constructs and they really are fighting bad guys, with help from their dinosaur friends and laser turrets.

And now I fear Unity once again.

Honetly i thouigh Unity was Chinese......that's what I get for skipping past her birth city.....

Given Unity's middle name, I want to speculate that at least one of her parents/grandparents might be Greek -- the name Thalia crops up repeatedly in Greek mythology, most notably as the Muse of Comedy (but also as one of the three Graces).

Talia (without the H, but it could be...but it a long discussion) is a coming Hebrew name

So when will it arrive? 

In other news, when you say Talia, my mind automatically appends "al-Ghul"… 

"Head" actually.

Wikipedia says that Talia means "dew from God" in Hebrew, but can also be attributed to a female "lamb".

My understanding was that Ra's al-Ghul, literally translated (at least in the Batman mythos) meant "The head of the demon".

However, the (online) bio lists her middle name as "Thalia" (with an H), meaning "to bloom."