So my question is in regards to the replacement effect of pixie guide, in a hypothetical situation if I had 2 Pixie Guides and I attack with Delina, Wild Mage am I rolling 3 d20s and ignoring just the one lowest result as the effects would seem to read? or is it supposed to be 3 d20s and ignore the lowest 2, or do the replacement effects not stack and you only get 2 d20s and ignore the lowest result?
If we follow the similar case with Krark's Thumb, then:
In effect, if you control two Pixie Guides and would roll one die, instead you roll three dice and ignore all but the highest roll. This is because, once one Pixie Guides applies, the other will see you try to roll two dice rather than one, so its effect applies twice so that you roll three dice instead (C.R. 616.2; see also C.R. 614.5).
More generally, if you control N Pixie Guides and would roll M dice, instead you roll M + N dice and ignore all but the highest roll.
Note, however, that at the time of this writing release notes for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is not yet available; perhaps there will be notes for Pixie Guide that clarify this case, or that "all but the highest roll" rather than "the lowest roll" is meant.
The release notes have this to say on this matter: "Some abilities, like that of Pixie Guide and Barbarian Class, replace rolling a die with rolling extra dice and ignoring the lowest roll. The ignored rolls are not considered for the effect that instructed you to roll a die, and do not cause abilities to trigger. For all intents and purposes, once you determine which dice count, the extra dice were never rolled."
EDIT (Jul. 19): Edited after comment 7 was posted.
I know that how it works is that no matter how many dice you roll, you only get one result, but that wording of the rules is wrong to how Pixie Guide functionally works.
What it should read is this:
"Some abilities, like that of Pixie Guide and Barbarian Class, replace rolling a die with rolling extra dice and ignoring the lowest rolls. The ignored rolls are not considered for the effect that instructed you to roll a die, and do not cause abilities to trigger. For all intents and purposes, once you determine which die counts, the extra dice were never rolled."
This wording is what reflects the actual function, where as the one given is wrong and means that you just remove the lowest rolled number.
Example:
I roll 5 dice, the results are 1, 1, 7, 14, 19.
In the original release notes wording, the 1's are ignored by being the lowest roll, and are ignored and considered never rolled, then those rolls left are what resolve.
In my wording (and how the it functionally works) all except the 19 are ignored for being the lowest ROLLS, and are ignored and are therefore considered never rolled.
Here is how I understand the game to process the effect of Pixie Guide.
Say you control two Pixie Guide permanents. You roll a d20 with Delina. Now there are two replacement effects that affect how many dice you roll, namely the effects of the two Pixie Guides. You choose one of them (C.R. 616.1, 616.1d). Now you would roll two dice, but instead the other Pixie Guide effect applies and you roll three dice instead of two (C.R. 616.1e, 616.2). Now you ignore the lowest die among the three dice. Now, of the two dice that remain, the first Pixie Guide effect has you ignore the lowest die. The end result is that rather than rolling one d20, you roll three d20 and ignore the lowest two dice.
EDIT: Add rule citation, and further edited, after comment 7 was posted.
Now you ignore the lowest die among the three dice. Now, of the two dice that remain, the first Pixie Guide effect has you ignore the lowest die. The end result is that rather than rolling one d20, you roll three d20 and ignore the lowest two dice.
From what you have put (linking the rules etc) thats right, but my problem is with the wording of how its been explained (as i was also wondering ahead of the release notes on the exact wording as how Pixie Guides is written is not how it works)
But to go into your example you have ignored 2 dice when only asked to ignore one. the first instance you ignore the lowest, you did that why? then used the card effect to ignore a result to leave one. how Pixies works as written is you ignore just one value, hence in my example i used two 1's.
I understand the effect due to how other things work similarly in the game, but as i mentioned above the wording given to describe this function is wrong.
Now I believe you may be pointing out several ambiguities. One is how the phrase "the lowest roll" can be ambiguous: it could mean "all die rolls with the lowest value" rather than "one die roll with the lowest value". Another is a possible ambiguity on the word "ignore"; under one interpretation, even though a die roll is ignored for purposes of one Pixie Guide, it might not be ignored for purposes of any other Pixie Guide. (But see, for example, the rulings for Krark's Thumb.) Perhaps the intent of Pixie Guide may be clearer by using another term instead: "leave out", "delete", or even "zap". You should ask the rules manager Jesse Dunks if you want more clarification on the intent of Pixie Guide.
In any case, as I understand it:
If you control one Pixie Guide, "roll a d20" becomes "roll two d20 and ignore the lowest roll".
If you control two Pixie Guides, the first replaces "roll a d20" with "roll two d20 and ignore the lowest roll" and in turn, the second replaces "roll two d20" with "roll three d20 and ignore the lowest roll" (so that in the end, "roll a d20" becomes "(roll three d20 and ignore the lowest roll) and ignore the lowest roll" or, perhaps more clearly, "(roll three d20 and ignore the lowest roll so that one fewer die is left) and ignore the lowest roll so that one fewer die is left").
The comprehensive rules update for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms explains what it means to "roll two or more dice and ignore the lowest roll".
Notably, the lowest roll "is considered to have never happened. No abilities trigger because of the ignored roll, and no effects apply to that roll. If ... multiple results are tied for the lowest, the player chooses one of those rolls to be ignored" (C.R. 706.5706.6).
EDIT (Oct. 24, 2022): Edited to conform to rule update with Unfinity. What is now C.R. 706.6 was generalized to apply to ignoring die rolls in general.
The rules dealing with d20 rolls haven't been released yet. Butthe situation is similar to the case of Krark's Thumb (see also this submission on Reddit and this thread on this site).If we follow the similar case with Krark's Thumb, then:- In effect, if you control two Pixie Guides and would roll one die, instead you roll three dice and ignore all but the highest roll. This is because, once one Pixie Guides applies, the other will see you try to roll two dice rather than one, so its effect applies twice so that you roll three dice instead (C.R. 616.2; see also C.R. 614.5).
- More generally, if you control N Pixie Guides and would roll M dice, instead you roll M + N dice and ignore all but the highest roll.
Note, however, that at the time of this writing release notes for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is not yet available; perhaps there will be notes for Pixie Guide that clarify this case, or that "all but the highest roll" rather than "the lowest roll" is meant.
EDIT (Jul. 13): See comment 3.
EDIT (Jul. 19): Edited after comment 7 was posted.
What it should read is this:
"Some abilities, like that of Pixie Guide and Barbarian Class, replace rolling a die with rolling extra dice and ignoring the lowest rolls. The ignored rolls are not considered for the effect that instructed you to roll a die, and do not cause abilities to trigger. For all intents and purposes, once you determine which die counts, the extra dice were never rolled."
This wording is what reflects the actual function, where as the one given is wrong and means that you just remove the lowest rolled number.
Example:
I roll 5 dice, the results are 1, 1, 7, 14, 19.
In the original release notes wording, the 1's are ignored by being the lowest roll, and are ignored and considered never rolled, then those rolls left are what resolve.
In my wording (and how the it functionally works) all except the 19 are ignored for being the lowest ROLLS, and are ignored and are therefore considered never rolled.
A bit of a difference for just 2 words.
~Funk Pirate
Say you control two Pixie Guide permanents. You roll a d20 with Delina. Now there are two replacement effects that affect how many dice you roll, namely the effects of the two Pixie Guides. You choose one of them (C.R. 616.1, 616.1d). Now you would roll two dice, but instead the other Pixie Guide effect applies and you roll three dice instead of two (C.R. 616.1e, 616.2). Now you ignore the lowest die among the three dice. Now, of the two dice that remain, the first Pixie Guide effect has you ignore the lowest die. The end result is that rather than rolling one d20, you roll three d20 and ignore the lowest two dice.
EDIT: Add rule citation, and further edited, after comment 7 was posted.
From what you have put (linking the rules etc) thats right, but my problem is with the wording of how its been explained (as i was also wondering ahead of the release notes on the exact wording as how Pixie Guides is written is not how it works)
But to go into your example you have ignored 2 dice when only asked to ignore one. the first instance you ignore the lowest, you did that why? then used the card effect to ignore a result to leave one. how Pixies works as written is you ignore just one value, hence in my example i used two 1's.
I understand the effect due to how other things work similarly in the game, but as i mentioned above the wording given to describe this function is wrong.
~Funk Pirate
In any case, as I understand it:
Notably, the lowest roll "is considered to have never happened. No abilities trigger because of the ignored roll, and no effects apply to that roll. If ... multiple results are tied for the lowest, the player chooses one of those rolls to be ignored" (C.R.
706.5706.6).EDIT (Oct. 24, 2022): Edited to conform to rule update with Unfinity. What is now C.R. 706.6 was generalized to apply to ignoring die rolls in general.