Power Iron Behemoth

[bubblemonkey42]

So Power Iron Behemoth for the Battlesmith has to be one of the coolest abilities in this game. And there's a lot going on with it. There's one element that I'm finding to be very confusing though. In the spell description, it states that "The Behemoth does not need to be maintained. Once summoned from the earth it does not leave until you dismiss it to hide in the earth." But the meta tags for this power include a Maintain meta. If the behemoth doesn't need to be maintained, why is one of the metas maintain? Is this some kind of disparity between flavor and mechanics that I'm just missing?

[Panjumanju]

Hi there,

I'm glad you like Power Iron Behemoth, it was a fun one to make, but I see there are a few hiccups in the text and that's entirely my fault. For one, take out the line "It is considered a Companion", because it's not; you upgrade it with the Forge Skill. That change happened part-wary through development and I see that line was never expunged.

Onto your question. There was great debate behind the scenes about this one, because I didn't want the Iron Behemoth to be like the Siethkona's gated skeleton from Denizens of the North and disappear between rounds if you didn't have a Maintain meta on there. So, Power Iron Behemoth has a free Maintain meta baked into its QR cost as a power. *However*, the Element Meta Tags on the power still need a Maintain Meta Tag if you want to Maintain those effects, because frankly those Element effects are bonkers, and getting to *both* have a free maintain on the Behemoth *and* on the Element metas was way, way too much.

So, as a clear answer to your question - the Maintain Meta is to bind all the Element Metas. The Behemoth does not go away unless dismissed. (Even then, is it silently watching you from underground, there to protect you if you need it? See the Protective Monstrosity passive.)

//James Kerr

[bubblemonkey42]

If it helps, there is a line in the combat description that specifically calls out that it is NOT a companion. So I was already kind of ignoring that note, because it didn't really make any sense with the rest of the description.

Thank you for clarifying the rest though! That makes a lot more sense now. The way I was translating it was ALOT more complicated, so my player will be relieved to hear that it's much simpler.

I appreciate the quick responses to my questions. My first session of Children of Eriu is tonight, and I'm incredibly excited to see all the new talents in action!

[Panjumanju]

Power Iron Behemoth I think had the longest description of any of the powers. I'm not surprised I didn't express it super gracefully in the end. I think Andrew even had me make a note for identifying what that Maintain Meta Tag was doing and it just never made it into the text, so it's entirely my fault. Children of Eriu was a beast in terms of size and content density.

Good luck in your game tonight!

//James Kerr