CE Physically marked card states

In play and out of play

Whether a card is in or out of play is determined by the game area it is in.

Implications of in and out of play

Cards that are not in play or in a resolution, entering-play or focusing area have the following limitations:

• They may not be targeted or perform actions.
• Abilities on them may not be used, and triggered traits on them are not triggered.
• They may not be used or changed to pay costs.
• Their continuous traits do not produce effects.

EXCEPTION: Continuous effects on cards out of play affect only the card itself.

• They are not affected by effects.

EXCEPTION: A delayed effect can affect a card out of play if it was in play when the effect was activated. See Effects in and out of play.

The above limitations are overridden when a reference is made to cards in an out-of-play area, or an effect that would normally put a card in an out-of-play area or that refers to a card in such an area.
Examples: “Target a discarded card”; “Your Samurai enter play paying 1 less Gold”; “After one of your cards is destroyed”; “All Samurai in and out of play.”

Each of the limitations must be overridden separately, and is overridden only for the specific area or areas mentioned or implied.
Example: “After a target card is discarded: Put it in your hand” specifically targets a discarded card, and specifically tells you to put it in another out-of-play area (your hand), so both effects work. It does not allow you to use an ability on the card while it is out of play, or to have it produce effects.

See also Effects, Effects in and out of play and Timing, Leaving and entering play.

Bowed and unbowed

Some effects and costs turn a card 90° clockwise to indicate a state of unreadiness. This state is known as “bowed” and cards not in this state are “unbowed.” See also “may remain bowed” in the Glossary.

When a card goes from unbowed to bowed, the card “bows”. When a card goes from bowed to unbowed, the card “straightens.”

Only cards in play can bow or straighten, or have the bowed or unbowed state. [CLARIFIED 15 Jul 2011]

Cards normally enter play in the unbowed state.

When a card enters play bowed, it is not considered to bow, because it was not in play as an unbowed card.

Abilities on a bowed card can not be used, bowed Personalities can not assign, and bowed cards in a unit affect the calculation of total unit Force.

Honorable and dishonorable

A Personality card is sometimes turned 180° upside down to indicate a state of disgrace (or exposure, in the case of Personalities with no concept of honor). This state is known as “dishonorable” and Personalities not in this state are “honorable.” A personality who is both dishonorable and bowed should have the top of his or her card facing left instead of right, indicating the 90° turn of bowing plus the 180° turn of dishonorable status.

Only Personalities can be honorable or dishonorable. Personalities are normally honorable unless a cost or effect has made them dishonorable.

When a personality goes from honorable to dishonorable, he or she is “dishonored.” When a personality goes from dishonorable to honorable, he or she is “rehonored.”

A face-up Personality out of play can be dishonorable or honorable. Leaving or entering play does not change a Personality’s dishonorable or honorable status.

Dishonorable Personalities have a maximum Personal Honor of zero.

After a dishonorable Personality is destroyed, the player who controlled him or her loses Honor equal to the Personality's base Personal Honor. This is a rulebook effect, not a card effect.

There are a number of ways to rehonor dishonorable Personalities.

• Before a player gains Honor from an action or trait that targeted, came from, or was performed by one or more of his or her dishonorable Personalities, if any of those Personalities is not otherwise rehonored by the action or trait, each Personality is rehonored and the player does not gain the Honor. (Dishonorable status is checked when the Personality is targeted, etc. For more details, see References). [CHANGED 2 Aug 2011]

• Before a player gains Honor from attaching a card to one of his or her dishonorable Personalities, the Personality is rehonored and the player does not gain the Honor.

• Before a player with one or more dishonorable Personalities in his or her army gains Honor from destroying enemy cards in battle resolution, all such dishonorable Personalities are rehonored and the Honor is not gained. In a tied battle, all dishonorable Personalities in an army are rehonored before being destroyed, and their army’s leader gains no Honor.

If, during one of these effects, the rehonoring is negated or otherwise fails, the Honor is still not gained.

Dead

“Dead” is a special state that only applies to some Personalities in the discard pile. See Discard piles.

Locations

Cards in play have a location – the home or a battlefield. Areas out of play are not locations.

Cards enter play in their controller’s home.
EXCEPTION: Terrains enter play at the battlefield where they are played.

Cards that are not in a unit can only be in a player’s home while in play.
EXCEPTION: Terrains, and Regions attached to a battlefield’s associated province, are in play at their battlefield.

When a unit goes from one location to another, it moves.
EXCEPTION: The following changes of location are not movement: assigning to a battlefield, entering a player’s home or other area due to change of control, returning home after a battle, and returning home due to a battlefield ceasing to exist.

When a unit “moves home” it moves to its controller’s home.

When a unit "moves to attack” it moves into the attacking side of a battlefield. Specifically, moving to attack also includes moving between two battlefields on the attacking side. "Move to defend" has a parallel meaning involving the defending side.

See the section on the Combat Segment for rules on whether a given unit can move into a battlefield and what army it moves into.

Card control

Cards come in play controlled by the player who brought them into play.
EXCEPTIONS: An attached card in a unit is controlled by the unit’s Personality’s controller. A Region or other card attached to a Province is controlled by the player whose province it is.

A card’s text (such as, “Lose 3 Honor” or “You may not take Political actions”) is to be read from the perspective of its controller while the card is in play. See also Glossary, Your.

Only the controller of a card may use its abilities or use it to pay costs.

When a non-attachment card changes control, it goes to its new controller’s home, or to its new controller’s side of the battlefield if it was at a battlefield before changing control. This is not considered movement.

Changing control is instantaneous and does not have a duration.

Control of a unit is determined by who controls its Personality, even if cards in the unit have different controllers.

Card ownership

A card is owned by the player whose play deck it was originally in, or the player who brought it into play if the card was created or brought in from outside the play deck. A card’s ownership can not change.

A card’s text is to be read from the perspective of its owner while the card is out of play. See also Your.

Overlaying

Some effects, most commonly the rule for Experienced Personalities, may overlay one card (the overlaying card) on top of another (the underlying card). To reflect the process of the same Personality changing in stats, traits and abilities, special rules are needed.

An underlying card merges with the card that overlays it, creating a card represented by a stack of two or more physical cards, and a number of special situations.

The underlying card is out of play, but does not leave play. For instance, it does not benefit from effects that would give it abilities if it was in play, another player would not gain Honor for destroying it in battle resolution, and Reactions to its leaving play may not be taken.

Created cards do not cease to exist when overlaid, because they do not leave play.

An overlaying card is not entering play even if it comes from an out-of-play area. Requirements of play (such as the Loyal keyword) must be met before an Experienced card can overlay, however.

EXCEPTION: Honor Requirements need not be met by an overlaying Experienced card.

The stack has the overlaying card’s title, stats, keywords, traits, and abilities, and any other feature the game needs to check is based on the overlaying card. The stack also inherits the base abilities of all underlying cards, even ones that have been removed. Inheriting is not an ability gain.

For purposes of delayed effects on a particular card, and for effects that track whether a card remains in play, the overlaid card is considered to be the same card as the underlying card.

An inherited ability on the new card is the same copy as on the underlying card, and remembers whether it has been used. However, if the overlaying card has a different title than the underlying one, references in inherited abilities to the card’s own title are changed to the new title, similar to what happens when an ability is copied (see Copy).

The underlying card’s attachments, tokens, and game state, including ongoing effects, also apply to the new stack. This process does not transfer or attach anything, or begin or end any game state on a card. Specifically, existing minimums, maximums, bonuses and penalties to the underlying card’s stats will transfer to the overlaying card.

Ongoing effects generated by the underlying card continue normally, even if they were previously generated by a triggered trait that is lost by overlaying.

An stack of two or more cards may be overlaid again.

When a stack containing overlaying cards leaves play, all underlying cards in it are removed from the game.

Only Personalities can overlay or be overlaid. Effects that change the rules about what card can overlay another do not break this rule unless explicitly stated.
Example: A Personality who "will overlay any Monk" cannot overlay a Monk Follower.

Face up and face down

A card, in or out of play, is either face up or face down.

Physical destruction of cards

An effect may call for the physical destruction of a card (for example, "tear this card in half"). A card that has been physically destroyed is removed from the game, is no longer part of its owner's decks, and may not be included in decks in any future game. [ADDED 19 Oct 2011]

---

Back to the Comprehensive Rules