by KarasuG
Recently I've played a game where the traitor, who had low Might and the Ring, wanted to steal an item from the hero with the Skull. They performed a regular Sanity attack and won by 3, and announced his intention to steal an item immediately.The issue is that the hero hadn't decided whether to use the Skull and convert the damage to physical. The important question, then, is this: if an explorer with the Ring makes a Sanity attack against a hero with the Skull, are they allowed to steal an item outright, is there a specific timeframe where this is possible, or is it not allowed at all?
The ways I see it:
1. Items cannot be stolen with attacks that cause mental damage, as stated in the regular rules.
2. An item can be stolen after a mental attack outright if the target has the Skull, because they can choose to take physical damage.
3. An item can be stolen after a mental attack if the target has the Skull and chooses to use it to convert the damage to physical. The attacker can then choose to either cause physical damage or steal an item.
We house-ruled in favor of situation 3, but I'm doubtful that's how it should be played. The rules for stealing items explicitly state "inflict" physical damage, and I'm fairly certain that a mental attack will always inflict mental damage. In my eyes, whether the target with the Skull wants to use it to convert the damage to physical, after having received it, is a separate issue entirely.
So I now ask you here, which option makes the most sense to play with?