My personal opinion is that for RAI, almost certainly asl only applies when the banner bearer is charged.
For RAW the implication is the same, however it is not as semantically clear cut as some are suggesting. The verb 'contact' can be active or passive and doesn't always imply who initiates it. Also 'foe' is the subject in this case because the following clause of the sentence applies to it - it is therefore linguistically much simpler to put 'foe' as the first noun. im sorry but its not conclusive.
The example of the rune of fire, mentioned earlier, is a good one, because it clearly lays out the changes made by each extra rune. Effects do stack, but they don't always (as someone said). therefore with the rune of fire GW explain clearly all the effects each time, even if they have to repeat themselves. They don't repeat themselves with the rune of slowness. Therefore this is a justifiable argument to support the third rune being applied in a different way, because it is worded differently. This is an argument based on a technicality. But it cannot be dismissed. That's the whole point of RAW.
Like i said, I agree with people who believe asl only applies when receiving a charge, because thats how I read it first time and contextually it does make more sense. Here the 'should' argument would seem to apply, but it isn't a silver bullet either I'm afraid. So I'm actually arguing the opposite of how i interpret the rule because I think this one is not entirely clear from the language used (and I used to be an English language teacher, before anybody questions my credentials 😝). those who say it clear cut are being a bit too dismissive of other opinions, imho.
Most likely this is all caused by lazy editing and the need to squeeze all the rules on that one page. Good job GW 👍.
Also, please lets not make this 'deathblow mark II'. Although funnily enough i think this debate actually has more legs to it than that one.
Beers to all!
Krudd
Edited by Krudd Kraggsson, 17 January 2015 - 12:12 AM.