by GamerRay
I just played my first game on TTS. Let me just say that this is an incredible game and I can't wait to see the final product.
I did have quite a few rules questions come up. Some may just be my confusion over rules, but some may be worth addressing as you keep working on the rulebook and card language.
Rulebook (Page 3, Choosing a Character): In a 4 player game, the Nemesis should wait to choose until the Animus have chosen theirs. In a 1-2 player game, the Nemesis chooses first. What order should players choose in a 3 player game?
Rulebook (Page 4, Peaceful Night): I’m confused by the example. It says that the Peaceful Night cards should be removed in a game with 3 Animus or if the Nemesis is a new player. So that means that if a player is experience, or facing fewer than 3 Animus, the Peaceful Night cards remain IN the deck.
Then in the example, it says “... Since Jesse is an old pro at Cardweaver and is only playing against 2 Animus, she removes both Peaceful Night cards from the deck… Jesse then takes the Base Nemesis deck and shuffles it with the 20-card Undead Warlord Deck, creating a 38 card deck.”
-If Jesse’s an old pro, why isn’t Jesse leaving the Peaceful Nights in the deck?
-If Jesse’s not facing 3 Animus, why isn’t Jesse leaving the Peaceful Nights in the deck?
-In the TTS demo, the Nemesis deck has 22 cards. By removing the 2 Peaceful Nights from that deck, Jesse should have 40 cards, not 38.
Discarding extra cards: Other than discarding 2 cards for Conviction, is there a way to simply discard unwanted cards without playing them? I.e. discarding a Unique card that is already in play. The rules don’t seem to allow it, but it’s so standard in deck-builders that I wasn’t sure if it was an oversight.
Cybercop as an Anima (and other Anima questions): P. 10 “Anima Characters” says that Anima cards are considered removed from play. Cybercop allows the player to put a card from their deck into another player’s play area. I understand the intention of this, but this may cause a rules conflict with… unpleasant players.
-Is Cybercop’s Anima useless if their player deck was empty when they died? The rules don’t state anything about shuffling the hand/discard pile into the deck, yet her Anima ability only lets you pull cards out of the Player Deck.
-Also, what does “removed from play” technically mean? Card gamers understand it, but what does the term mean to someone who’s never played a card game before?
-The rules only remove the deck/discard pile from the game. Can the Nemesis still discard cards from an Anima’s Dreamscape? Do they still refill their Dreamscape at the end of their turn? Can the game still end if their Dreamscape can’t be refilled?
-What happens to Nightmare cards (in play or still in their deck) when an Animus is flipped to the Anima side?
Interacting with discarded cards: Pyromancer’s 10xp ability lets you return 2 magic cards from your discard pile to your hand. Am I able to do that during the end step of her turn, or do I have to wait until a later turn? I.e. begin end step -> send played/purchased cards to discard pile -> use my ability to return 2 cards from the discard pile to my hand
Quick Cast cards on other turns: Do Quick Cast cards go into the discard pile at the end of the current player’s turn? Or if Pyromancer plays a Quick Cast on the Nemesis turn, does that card not go to the discard pile until the end of Pyromancer’s turn?
“Once Per Turn” limitations: When permanent cards have a “once per turn” effect, does that mean I get to use them once on each player’s turn? For example, the Pyromancer has “Fire Bombs: Once per turn, you may deal 2 damage to a target.” In a 4 player game, could I potentially do 8 damage per round (2 per Animus turn, 2 on the Nemesis turn)?
If so, does the Undead Warlord just win when he hits 16 XP and has 5 Reavers, activating his final “once per turn” ability at the start of each player’s turn?
Hacker’s “Virus Dagger”: What would be the mechanical difference between “If you deal damage to a target by Attacking them this turn, they also take 4 damage” compared to “If you deal damage to a target by Attacking them, they also take 4 damage.” By using “this turn,” it sounds like the player must choose to activate the effect.
Undead Warlord’s “Control”: Page 10 “Attacking” says that Animus cannot defeat Ally cards. What happens when an Animus card deals damage to all Reavers? If they would take damage (because they’re considered a Reaver), what happens if that damage would defeat the Ally/Reaver? I played it as they go to the discard pile, but don’t get the reward for being defeated.
“Guard” cards: Can I use these to protect another Animus from a Nemesis attack? If not, is there another way to prevent a single Animus from being targeted and burned down?
Clearing out the Dreamscape: If a Dreamscape is filled with expensive/junk cards, is there a way to put some/all of them in the Dead Zone?
Defense on Ally/Reaver cards: Allies with a defense value only contribute that to the Animus/Nemesis, right? It seems that way, but I had to look through the rules a few times to be certain.
Timing of abilities: When can I use “once per turn” abilities? Or Quick Cast cards? Can I interrupt an action to do so? Here’s a situation that came up:
-Undead Warlord has a Skeleton Lord and a Skeleton on the field
-He attacks the Pyromancer
-Pyromancer responds with an Quick Cast card that kills the Skeleton
A few questions on how play can proceed:
-Does the Undead Warlord’s attack number change? I.e. is the value checked when he declares the attack, or when the attack damage is fully resolved?
-Can the Skeleton Lord respond to the Skelton’s defeat by pulling him out of the discard pile before the attack finishes resolving?
-Can I respond by giving 4 XP to the Skeleton Lord, then letting the Skeleton Lord pull a Skeleton out of my deck before the attack finishes resolving?
-On that note, can the Nemesis turn, can the Undead Warlord play a Devouring Shield in response to a Fireball that was made into a Quick Cast by Spellcaster? The only thing that seems to make Quick Cast cards unique is that they can be played on anyone’s turn, not that they can be played in response to an action.
-Based on the wording of Quick Cast cards, if normal cards cannot be played in response to another card, then can cards like Guard not be played in response to being attacked by the Nemesis?
General Suggestions:-Have some sort of breakdown at the back of the book showing what an Animus/Nemesis can do on their turn (and including rules reminders like how to gain XP or discarding 1-2 cards to gain Conviction)
-More clarity on how certain things work, or perhaps more bullet points/bolded words/something to make it easier to find info at a glance
-Tighten up the language and explain any terminology you use (like my example of "removed from play")
-Personally, I'd like to see defense tokens so that players can look across the table and easily see how much damage will be blocked from an attack and where that defense is coming from (looking at you, Cybercop and Pals...)
-Is the plural of this games "Animus" simply "Animus"? I.e. you have one Animus or three Animus? I ask because Undead Warlord's "Dark Ritual" says "... in each Animus' play area." That would only be correct if it's a plural possessive, but I believe "each" requires you to say "each Animus's play area." I'm not sure of a clean way to write that, but perhaps just drop the apostrophe and say "each Animus play area"?
