SHADOWFIST REFERENCE NOTES 10/02/95 ============================================================================== By Stephen D'Angelo (dangelo@crystalkeep.com) Information up through FAQ version 3.3 is included in this file. The Turn Order -------------- Start of Game: a. Start with one power. b. Start with 6 cards in your hand. Note that on the first turn you do not have any Feng Shui Sites to collect power from and can discard as many cards as you want. Make sure you start with a Feng Shui site and a no resources required character. Some people play (although it is not in the rulebook) that you can repeat steps '1c' and '1d' until you meet this requirement. 0. Handle all "at start of turn" effects. 1. Establishing Shot You do the following in this order (order typically isn't important, however, except that you draw after discarding): a. Collect power. 1 power from each face-down Feng Shui Site and the number in the diamond from all face-up sites. Plus any special abilities which generate power. You can choose not to collect any power if you wish to discard more than one card during step 1c. b. Unturn your turned cards. You can choose not to unturn ones that say "Turn and maintain". Regenerating characters also heal at this time. c. Discard. You can discard one card if you want to. If you chose not to collect power in 1a, you can discard as many cards as you want. Discarded cards go to your Toasted pile. d. Draw up to 6 cards in your hand. 2. Main Shot Do the following in any order and any number of times (unless otherwise specified): a. Play an Edge, Character or State card. (A character cannot have more than one Vehicle state.) b. Turn a character to heal it. c. Play a Site if you have not already played one this turn. Feng Shui sites cost 1 power for each Feng Shui you already have in play. Playing one when you have no Feng Shui sites not only costs zero power, but gives you one power. You cannot play a Feng Shui site unless you have less than the number required to win or your opponent has no Feng Shui sites at all. Feng Shui sites enter play face down. Normal Sites are face up. d. Use an 'any-time' effect (see below) e. Declare an attack. You can only do this if it is your first attack or if all your attacks this turn damaged their target (damaging an interceptor does not count). This can be responded to only with effects which are legal during an attack (the attack starts with this declaration). f. Declare end of your turn. Turn does not end if opponent does something. It continues unless you declare it as ending again. Other players may do following: a. Use an 'any-time' effect (see below) b. Declare an attack (if they have a character that can attack when it is not their turn). Note that all actions are valid during the main phase and that any valid action (other than starting an attack or ending a turn) can be done in response to another action. See Sequence of Effects below. The Attack ---------- a. Turn all the attackers and select a single target character or front row site that you don't control. b. Any player can use 'any-time' effects (see below). The attacker can also play State cards or tap a character to heal it. c. MULTIPLAYER ONLY STEPS 1. Players other than the controller of the target can declare characters as aiding the attack by tapping them. Each player gets one chance to join as you go around the table clockwise from the attacking player. 2. Any player can use 'any-time' effects (see below). The attacker can also play State cards or tap a character to heal it. 3. Players other than the controller of the target can declare interceptors. (Note that the attacker can choose to intercept his own characters if they are crazy enough to do so.) Each player gets one chance to declare interceptors as you go around the table clockwise from the attacking player. Handle the entire combat with each player's interceptors before proceeding to the next player to see if they intercept. They steps are: i. Turn a character to temporarily move it to the location being attacked. (If the character has Mobility it does not need to turn and can intercept even it if is turned.) They are considered to be at that location during combat. ii. Handle combat as per steps 'e' through 'h'. iii. Surviving characters return to their original locations before they chose to intercept. iv. Any player can use 'any-time' effects (see below). The attacker can also play State cards or tap a character to heal it. d. The defending player (the one controlling the target) then declares interceptors. Only characters at the location of the target can be used to intercept. Turned characters can intercept any attacker which does not have Superleap. e. Line up your intercepting characters in front of the attackers of your choice. Each interceptor can only intercept a single character. f. Any player can use 'any-time' effects (see below). The attacker can also play State cards or tap a character to heal it. g. The attackers and first wave of interceptors deal damage to one another. Smoke any dead characters. If one character is intercepted and another is not, the unintercepted one waits for his companions to deal with their interceptors. h. Repeat steps 'f' and 'g' until all waves of interceptors are dealt with. i. Any player can use 'any-time' effects (see below). The attacker can also play State cards or tap a character to heal it. j. All remaining attackers simultaneously damage the target. If the target can deal damage, the defending player chooses how to divide the damage among the attackers. Smoke any dead characters. Any site which has damage in excess of its body can be seized, burned for 5 power or burned for victory at this time. Seized sites have all damage on them removed and can be placed at any legal position on your side. Burning a site for power ends your turn immediately after step k. k. Surviving attacking characters return to their original locations. If more than one character intercepts an attacker, the interceptors are lined up in a chain and fight the attacker one at a time as per step 'e' through 'g'. Note that once an attacker starts down this road that he will keep fighting interceptors until he dies or reaches the target. Intecepting a character does not prevent it from reaching the target unless you kill him. A Character with Tactics can leave the attack at any time that 'any-time' effects are usable. Note that there is no time between the start of dealing damage (steps 'g' and 'j') and putting characters in the smoked pile for them to be healed. They have to survive a round of combat to be healable. Any-Time Effects ---------------- I invented this term, but it's the easiest way to shorten the above entries. These are things that can be used at most times during the turn or attack. a. Play an Event card. b. Turn a card in play to use its ability. c. Turn a character to move it one location left or right. (If the character has Mobility, it does not need to turn and can be moved to any other location in one action.) Other Important Stuff --------------------- Attack: - Turning to attack is not considered to be turning to change location. - The attack is started as soon as the announcement is made. The announcement can be done in response to an effect and effects can be done in response to it, but it does not resolve like normal... it takes effect immediately and will limit which kinds of further effects can be announced. - You can never attack something that you control. Attacking Abilities: - Attacking characters with Ambush damage a character they are in combat with first. The other character may be smoked and not deal any damage or might just have its Fighting score reduced in which case it will deal less damage than its original Fighting score. - Attacking characters with Tactics can leave the combat during any of the 'any-time effects' steps during the attack. - Attacking characters with Assassinate which are attacking a character cannot be intercepted. - Attacking characters with Stealth can choose a single interceptor in each attack to skip by and not fight. - Attacking characters with Superleap cannot be intercepted by turned characters. - Characters which are Independent may attack even if your last attack failed to damage the target. Cancel and Smoke: - This smokes the card. If the card was being used for some effect at the time it was smoked, the effect is cancelled. If it was not being used, ignore the cancel part. Card Type: - A "Dragon Head" card (or any other symbol) is defined as a card which has that symbol in the casting requirements and/or in the resources provided section on the card. - A character is a "Cop" if it has that word in its name or in the 'designator' text below the picture. This rule can similarly be applied to PubOrd, Buro, and other such questions. - Characters with Assassinate ability are not Assassins unless the word Assassin appears in the name or designator. Control: - When counting things you "control", only count ones that are in play. Smoked cards don't count. Discard: - You discard to your toasted pile. Fighting: - Characters with damage have their Fighting score reduced by the number of damage counters on them. Except if the character has Guts, in which case its Fighting score does not decrease. A 4 Fighting character with 3 damage is considered to be a 1 Fighting character unless it has Guts in which case it is still a 4 Fighting character. - A character is smoked if it has damage equal to or in excess of its actual Fighting score (its original plus any bonuses due to states or whatever). In Play: - Cards in play are ones on the table and not ones in your smoked pile, toasted pile, hand, or draw pile. - Cards can only affect things which are in play unless specifically stated. For example, Arcanowave Reinforcer makes all characters which are in play into abominations. It does not affect your smoked pile. Limited: - This is a restriction and not an ability. It is not copied by things that copy abilities. Mobility: - Character can change to a legal location at any time without turning it. - Can be used to intercept at an opponent's location even if tapped. - Cannot use this to leave combat or avoid receiving damage. Redirection: - If damage is redirected to a different target then the original target is considered to not be successfully damaged. - When damage is redirected, the redirection is considered to be the new source of the damage. Resources: - Smoked characters still give you resources, but Toasted ones do not. Sacrifice: - This means to smoke a card, not to toast it. Sequence of Effects: - If reponses are declared, resolve the responses in last-to-first order with the original action going last. - If a character reaches lethal damage at any point during resolution, it is immediately smoked. Thus, you can respond to a heal action with something that does lethal damage and smoke the character before its healing gets to resolve. Sites and Feng Shui Sites: - A Feng Shui site is turned face-up if it is damaged or if you choose to use its ability, or if you just choose to reveal it. - A Site which takes fatal damage from something other than combat damage is simply smoked and is not seized or capable of being burned. - You cannot play a Feng Shui Site at all if it would cause you to meet your victory condition unless your opponent has no Feng Shui sites in play. - You can only start new locations (columns) to the right of existing locations. You cannot start new ones to the left. - If you take control of a character or site, you can put it at any legal location on your side. - If a front row site is seized by your opponent or smoked, the back row site (if any) moves forward to take its place. - If the last site at a location is seized or smoked, the location ceases to exist and any characters at that location get a 'free' move to any other location you have. If you have no more locations, they just collect on the table until you get one. - If a location in the middle of your structure ceases to exist, the locations to either side move together. It does not leave an empty spot for you to fill in later. States: - Control of state cards remains with the owner of the card unless something specifically changes that. They do not change controller even if the card they are on changes controllers. - Vehicles and weapons are used by the controller of the subject character. You cannot play a Motorcycle or other similar piece of equipment on an opponent's character and expect to use it. Unique: - This is a restriction and not an ability. It is not copied by things that copy abilities. Winning and Losing: - Two player games are played to 6 Feng Shui Sites and multiplayer games are only played for 5. You must take your final Feng Shui site from an opponent unless your opponents have no Feng Shui sites in play to take. - You lose when you draw the last card from your draw pile. +X Damage: - Only applies to damage done in combat, and not to damage from special abilities. - Does not increase the character's Fighting score, so a character with a Really Big Gun (+2 damage) and a 1 Fighting score still cannot damage the Masked Avenger (not damaged by characters with a Fighting score of 1). Specific Card Info ------------------ Adrienne Hart: - If you somehow get a state card onto her (i.e. Larcenous Mist) it will not be destroyed. The ability only prevents new states from being played on her. Alchemist's Lair: - It is supposed to produce Magic resources instead of Chi, but there is no errata to it. Play it as producing Chi. It will be fixed in the Standard Edition. Ancestral Tomb: - If it is damaged you may play another Feng Shui since it will not count for victory. - If the damage is healed, you still need to get one Feng Shui from an opponent to win. Arcanowave Reinforcer: - Is being rewritten in Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "All your characters in play inflict +1 damage and are considered Abominations." - Like all cards which don't specifically say they affect the smoked pile, this only affects cards in play. Auspicious Termites: - Only goes to a player's hand if it is burned or smoked. It can, however, be successfully seized by an attacking player. - You cannot burn Auspicious Termites for victory or for power. Blessed Orchard: - Only takes power from the attacking player and not from players who aid in the attack. - Does not take power if the attacking player does not have any. Big Brother Tsien: - Damage is not removed when his fighting score drops at the end of the turn. If damage exceeds his fighting score at that time, he is smoked. Booby Trap: - Can only be played on the site you control which is being attacked. - Is being rewritten in Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "Play on a site you control when the site is attack. Target side and all characters at its location suffer 3 points of damage." Cave Network: - You are still subject to resource conditions. - Cannot be combined with other cost lowering effects like Proving Grounds. Dance of the Centipede: - This card should read "Play on target unturned card. Target card becomes turned. Target card cannot be turned in response." - It cannot cancel a card being played from someone's hand. - Can be used to cancel a character's attack. Evil Twin: - As errata, it should read "When Evil Twin is played, choose any character in play. Evil Twin takes on the Fighting score, designators, and abilities of that character, but not its resources and resource conditions. - Does not cause an auction if you Twin a Unique character. Unique is a restriction and not an ability. Explosives: - This one has a serious bit of errata. It should say "Play on an unturned character. After subject character damages a site in an attack, you may sacrifice Explosives to allow subject character to inflict 5 additional points of damage to the site". - This is one of the only exceptions to the no activating effects during damage dealing. Fox Pass: - Is being rewritten in Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "Turn to change one attacking character's target to a character or front-row site you control." - Can only retarget one attacking character. - It is possible for the attack then to have two targets. - Cannot change to an illegal target (i.e. one of the attacker's own sites or characters). The General: - There are two versions of this card. One with white text and one with black text. This is a typo. Gnarled Horror: - Smokes the character it is in combat with when it damages them. Normally damage is done simultaneously so the Horror will die, but if it had Ambush and it was attacking it would deal damage first and smoke the other character before that character dealt any damage. Gnarled Marauder: - If it reduces both sites to zero body at once you can seize and/or burn both of them. Havoc Suit: - Will be called "HAVOC Suit" when reprinted. Helix Chewer: - In the Standard Edition it will be in a State border. It is incorrectly in an Event border in the Limited Edition. Illusory Bridge: - It is controlled by the player whose site structure it has been played into, not by the player who owns the card. Inexorable Corruption: - The damage is not removed from a site when the site is seized. - Toughness will prevent the one point of damage done by this. - Damage from any source cannot ever be removed. It is not just limited to damage from Inexorable Corruption. King of the Thunder Pagoda: - Gives himself the +1 Fighting bonus. Larcenous Mist: - If a character with a X Fighting score is affected, they become a zero Fighting score character and are immediately smoked. Lily Pond: - Can actually change the target of an attack. If the new target is damaged, then the attack was successful. Police Station: - Is being reworded in the Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "Turn to inflict 2 points of damage to a Hood character or Hood site." Political Lock: - Does not prevent characters from turning to attack. It does prevent them from intercepting at locations controlled by other players or from changing location in their own power structure, if this action requires them to turn (Mobility allows a character to get around this). Probability Manipulator: - As errata, you cannot change any number to zero. Progress of the Mouse: - As errata, you can only play it on an opponent. Proving Grounds: - Is being reworded in the Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "When Proving Grounds is first revealed, turn Proving Grounds for no effect. Turn Proving Grounds to play a character at -2 cost. Multiple Proving Grounds cannot reduce the cost of the same character." Reinvigoration Process: - This card should read "Turn during your turn to play an abomination from your smoked pile at normal cost." - You do have to pay any costs and meet resource conditions when playing this character. Righteous One: - Is being reworded in the Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "Any character intercepted by Righteous One while Rightous One is unturned is smoked after inflicting damage on Righteous One." - Smokes the character it intercepts simultaneous to damage dealing. Rigorous Discipline: - Will not copy 'unique' or 'limited' status. Those are not abilities. Secret Headquarters: - Damages all sites (even Feng Shui ones) when it is smoked. Shamanistic Lieutenant: - Smokes abominations he is in combat with even before Ambush damage is done. Shih Ho Quai: - If you copy his abilities the ability will generally not mean much unless the character receiving the copied abilities already has an X on it, since it just sets a value for X and does not say what X means. Swat Team: - Will be called "SWAT Team" when reprinted. Throwing Star: - Is being reworded in the Standard Edition for clarity. It now says "After surviving combat with another character, subject character may inflict 1 point of damage on any character at its location." Thunder on the Mountain: - The 'm' is supposed to be an Architects of the Flesh symbol. Tortured Memories: - You gain control of the character immediately. If it was an attacker, it can be used to block. Whirlwind Strike: - Breaks the normal rules for declaring interceptors. The character with this card played on it is used to intercept an attacker and combat happens, then if it lives it can choose another attacker to intercept, and so on. When this is done you continue with the rest of the interceptions as per the normal combat rules.