Card Tricks

In the previous examples the focus was on card values and their use in replacement and reinforcement tactics but they have other uses as well. Some of these are detailed below.

Standard Card Effects

  

Value refers to the number appearing in the top left-hand corner and bottom right-hand corner. On most cards this will be a number from two to ten (2-10). One card, the Void, has a value of zero (0) and another, the Flood, has a value of twelve (12). Aces start with a value of 1 and add a second card’s value for their complete linked value. Any rule that references a card’s value refers to this number.

Power Suit is one of the four standard modern playing card suits; Clubs ♣, Diamonds ♦, Hearts ♥ or Spades ♠. Each represents a different Source of power.

Force Icons (F°) refers to the eight-point star symbols in the top right-hand edge or bottom left-hand edge. Each icon is counted separately as one Force; giving cards a Force effect from one to four (1-4). These icons may be used to enhance specific effects as described in the individual rules sections to follow.

Special Card Effects

           

Link: This card may be used to combine with another card during any Challenge or Check Step whenever played. These cards have a value of 1 plus the value of a second card. Suits and Force icons on both cards are considered active but cannot be played separately.

Block: This card may be used to remove another active card during any Challenge Step. Both the blocking and the blocked card (including Link cards) are discarded.

Draw Reinforce: This card is added to your selected starting card from an unused Draw Hand card. This option is only available to Combination attacks and defenses. In a Check sequence there is no Buff Step, so this is the only way to reinforce a Protection or Resistance Check.

Reinforce: This card is added to your selected starting card from a Buff Hand card. If a figure has already used a Draw Reinforce in a combination, then this option cannot be used. Only one reinforcement may be used in any Challenge or Check sequence.

Replace: This card is used to replace a selected Draw card during the Buff Step in a Challenge. Discard the previous Draw card when this card is activated. If you have used a Reinforce card, you may not play a Replace card and vice versa.

Whenever you have a penalty Draw Hand, your lowest Draw Card must remain active throughout the Challenge or Check sequence and may not be replaced or used to block, although it may be blocked (Blocking is a Special Ability some figures may possess).

Push: If you expend one Push token you may add an additional top Draw Card face down to your Challenge or Check total. Until both players in a Challenge have responded and spent a Push token, or passed, the card remains face down.

Morph: During a Challenge or Check, at the start of the Discard Step, a single Buff Hand card may be swapped by a caster for one of their unused face-down Draw cards. This swap must be revealed to the field (as a check on legality) and the cards to be swapped must be aligned to the caster. This may be done only once per Challenge or Check.

Gain Force: A figure may increase the Force of an effect by adding the force icons of an Aligned Suit to their Force total. A selected card must be active (i.e. face up). Cast, Fight, Shoot attacks and some Special Abilities allow a Force icon to be added if these required conditions are met. The base value of an effect (the one listed on the figure’s Crew Card) is the maximum boost that effect can be given (e.g. a baseline F°4 effect cannot be increased higher than a F°8 total, or base 4 + boost 4).

Gain or Lose Suit: Any face-up card may be tilted 90° to your left (to decrease that Suit by one rating) or to your right (to increase that Suit by one rating). The effect occurs within a caster’s Control Zone and Lingers (Ω) until the Closing Phase ends or until overridden by another Suit change in the same area of effect.

The altered Source ratings will affect every figure and all their gear and casting effects within the area of effect. This ability may be used to counter the current casting of an effect. It cannot counter an ongoing effect or condition if the required Source was present when the effect was initially cast. 

Morph and Gain or Lose Suit are caster abilities so they will be explained in better detail once I start posting Meta-Figure profiles after the next few Core Expansions.