CE Abilities and actions

Abilities and actions

As defined in Card features, Abilities, abilities are pieces of text on a card, or applying to a player, that may be used to take actions.

Designators

A player may use an ability to take an action at the timing point indicated by its designator:

• Limited: At an opportunity to act in the player’s Action Phase;
• Open: At an opportunity to act in any player’s Action Phase;
• Battle: At an opportunity to act in the Combat Segment;
• Reaction: At its stated trigger.

The term “ability” refers to the static text on a card or other game entity, while an “action” is a process that starts at a particular point in time. Actions have the keywords and designator of their ability.

EXCEPTION: Abilities with two designators, such as “Open/Battle,” count as having both individual designators, but the action they generate has only one designator, according to when the action was taken.

Example: A Strategy card with an Open/Battle ability can be searched for by effects that look for cards with Open actions as well as by effects that look for cards with Battle actions. However, when it comes time to use the ability, the action it creates only has one designator; Open if used in the Action Phase, or Battle if used in the Combat Segment.

When it is considered as an ability (a static element possessed by a card or a player) rather than an action (a process in the game that takes place at a given time), an ability counts as having both its designators.

Unlike traits:

• Abilities can only be used once per turn, unless a different usage limit is stated. Example: “Twice per turn” or “once per game.”
  
• Abilities on a bowed card may not be used.
  
• Abilities (including Reactions) are always voluntary for their player to use.

Like traits, abilities on cards not in play or in a resolution, entering-play or focusing area may not be used.

Rarely, the existence of an ability may depend on a condition being met. For example: While Domo is honorable, he has the ability, "Battle: Ranged 4 Attack." When such an ability is used, it is considered to have been used that turn (or other amount of time) even if the condition fails to be met, and is met again, in that time. [ADDED 14 Nov 2010]

Using abilities

When a player takes an action, follow steps A through E in sequence.

A. Announce the action

The player says which ability he or she is using, indicating its source and, if that source has multiple abilities appropriate for that point in time, which ability is being used.

The only time an action’s conditions are normally checked is when it is announced. All conditions must be met for an action to be legally announced.

If one or more of an action's effects are known beforehand to fail (for example, bowing an already bowed Personality, or moving him when a current effect would negate the movement), the action is still legal to take.

Good Faith Rule

Good Faith Rule: When an action is announced, the player must be able to target all required targets, meet all conditions of the action, and pay all mandatory costs, to the best of his or her knowledge.

If the action involves putting one or more cards into play as a non-optional effect, the player must be able to meet all costs and requirements to bring those cards into play legally, in order to meet the Good Faith rule. This includes having a Personality who can legally attach any attachments to be brought into play. [CLARIFIED 16 Feb 2011]

A player cannot announce an action on the basis of a legal card to play, but then choose an illegal attachment or Personality for the actual play choice.

Aspects of the game state are taken into account in determining legality under the Good Faith Rule, such as effects that reduce costs, prevent costs from being paid, or relax requirements.

A player is not assumed to know the face-down contents of his or her decks, for purposes of the Good Faith Rule.
Example: An action’s effect tells the player to search his or her deck and bring a card from it into play. If there is no legal card to play left in the deck, the player still may take the action in good faith.

The intent of the Good Faith Rule is to prevent players from abusively attempting actions whose costs and requirements they know they cannot fulfill (for example, in order to exploit a Reaction to announcing the action), while at the same time allowing players to take actions whose costs and requirements they know they can fulfill. It should be interpreted in this spirit, and not as a way to block legal actions because of a technicality.

B. Explicit performing and required targeting

At this step, an action’s explicit performers must be chosen, and required targets from its constraints and effects blocks must be targeted, in the order the performers or targets are mentioned.
EXCEPTION: Two or more targets or performers are chosen simultaneously if they are grouped together by a number (such as, “target two Holdings.”)

An action's explicit performers are any Followers or Personalities mentioned in the constraints block with the adjective "performing." All performers must be chosen legally for required targeting to be met. In Celestial Edition, performing can be indicated either explicitly or by targeting under certain conditions (see Glossary, Perform).

An action’s required targets consist of anything that is targeted by the player taking the action in the action's constraints or effects, using the word “target” or “targets,” unless the targeting is explicitly described as optional. Optional targeting is described either by “may target” wording, or by a choice between the targeting and something else, such as “lose 2 Honor or target a Personality you control.”

Targeting of a variable number of things is also optional when you can choose to target zero things.
Example: "Target up to three Personalities" is optional targeting, because you can choose to target zero Personalities.

EXCEPTION: Targeting that is part of a delayed effect (for example, “before the battle resolves, bow a target Personality”) is not required.

The term “targeted” refers back to a previous instance of targeting and does not constitute actual targeting.
Example: “Target a Samurai and a Shugenja. The targeted Samurai gains +2F.” This text only targets the Samurai once, because the reference term “targeted” is not actual targeting.

If required targeting or performing varies according to a currently known condition, the targeting requirement depends on whether the condition is met.
Example:In “Target 1 Holding, or 2 Holdings if it is not your turn”, the required targeting would be 1 Holding on your turn, and 2 Holdings on any other players’ turns.

If the condition of targeting is not currently known, but only becomes known after the required targeting step, the conditional targeting must be carried out if possible, but is not required.
Example: In "Move him home. If he moved, target another Personality," the targeting of another Personality is not required or carried out in the required targeting step.

Targeting shared by two alternatives in a choice is required.
Example: “Target two of your Personalities, or target one of your Personalities and one of your Holdings” requires you to target one of your Personalities. Targeting the second Personality or the Holding is optional.

The main difference between targeting in the constraints block and targeting in effects is that targeting in the constraints block can indicate performing.

Optional targeting, or targeting that is done by another player, happens when it is described – at the targeting step if it is in the constraints block, or as part of effect resolution if it is in the effects block. Targeting that is delayed happens at the time to which it is delayed.
Example: “Open: Target your Monk, and you may target your Temple: Give a target Personality +2F, or +4F if you targeted a Temple.” The sequence is: you must target your Monk, then you may target your Temple (optional targeting in constraints), then you must target your Personality, all during the required targeting step.

For more rules on targeting, see Glossary, Targeting.

Interference with required targeting or performing

From the point when an action is announced in good faith, to the point when a particular required targeting or performing occurs (including reactions "when X would target"), if anything interferes so that a piece of required targeting or performing can no longer be met, the action fails.

Further targeting and performing choice does not take place, the action's costs are ignored, and its effects do not happen. The action is still considered taken and ended, but not resolved, and the ability that created it is considered used. If the action was on a Strategy card, the card is discarded normally.

If any of an action's targeting or performing choices become illegal at any point after the particular choice has occurred, the action still proceeds.

C. Pay costs

At this step, an action’s mandatory costs, as well as any optional costs chosen in the constraints block, are paid. See the section on mandatory costs, for such topics as alternate payments and interference with costs.

Interference with mandatory costs

From the point when the action is announced legally to the point where the individual cost is required, if payment of any of an action’s mandatory costs is interfered with, the player taking the action may choose to pay the costs another way, or choose not to pay the cost.

If he or she cannot pay the costs another way, or chooses not to, then any remaining costs do not need to be paid, but costs already paid are not refunded, and the action’s effects do not happen. The action is still considered taken and ended, but not resolved, and the ability that created it is considered used. If the action was on a Strategy card, the card is discarded normally.

If a cost requiring a target is interfered with (such as a Reaction that prevents the bowing in the cost “Bow your target Samurai:”), a player cannot choose a new target to try to pay the cost, because the targeting step is already completed.

Sometimes an action, trait or card has a mandatory cost with a variable value, and this value depends on an element of the game that another player’s' effect interferes with at some point between announcement and the point when the cost is paid.
Example: An action’s Gold cost depends on the total Gold cost of a target unit. After announcement but before costs are paid, a card is added to the unit or the targeting of the unit is changed.

When the basis for a cost that depends on targeting changes due to interference with targeting, this is treated the same way as interference with the payment of the cost.

D. Action resolution

If mandatory costs and required targeting have been met, activate the action’s effects in order (see Effects, Order of effects). If not, skip the action’s resolution. This step also includes occurrences that are triggered by the action's effects, such as triggered traits or Reactions.

Effects of an action are independent. If any effect fails to occur (for example, bowing an already bowed Personality, moving him to a location he was already in, or being negated), the other effects still happen.

Effects are applied immediately after they are activated, except for delayed effects. Delayed effects are activated during this step, but not applied until their trigger occurs.

An action’s resolution happens even if all its effects are negated or otherwise fail. Failure of effects only determines whether an action is successful (see Glossary, Successful).

Once the action resolution has begun, effects that influence the action’s ability to have been taken in the first place do not influence the activation of the action’s effects.
Example: If an action’s required targeting becomes illegal during resolution, or the ability’s card leaves play during resolution, all remaining effects are still activated.

When all non-delayed effects of the action have happened, and all Reactions and triggered effects from those effects have ended, this step is done.

[CLARIFIED 9 Aug 2011]

E. Action ends

The trigger “after action resolution” is the same point in time as “after the action ends.” The difference is that the action ends, but does not have a resolution, if the costs or other requirements of an action announced in good faith are interfered with.

[CLARIFIED Aug 9 2011]

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