Star Wars CCG FAQ LIFE FORCE Q: Can you elect to use Force without using it for anything? For instance if your Reserve deck was running low and you don't have anything to use or deploy, and want to move cards from your Force Pile to your Used Pile? A: No; simply "using" Force for no reason is not legal. You can only "use" Force when it is legal to do so, such as when required to perform an action allowed by the rules (deploying a card, moving a character, etc.) or when you are instructed by a card to use Force, etc. You can not use Force on nothing, just as you cannot "discard" cards from your hand to your Used Pile. You also cannot "use" Force and hold on to it as some amorphous energy. You can only move cards from your Force pile to your Used pile when you are actually doing an action that requires it. PRESENCE AND PRESENT DEFINITIONS Q: What is "Presence"? Q: What is "Present"? Q:What is the difference between "PRESENCE" and "PRESENT"? DEFINITIONS Q: What is "Presence"? A: "Presence" is defined as having Ability of 1 or more at a location. "Presence" is a concept that refers to having Force Ability at a location having a "presence" there in the sense that you can apply your Force to that location using your characters with Force Ability there. What this basically boils down to is having at least one character there; except for droids, which have no Ability. There are currently no extenuating circumstances, other than cards which reduce Ability such as Affect Mind. So, two Banthas have Presence at the Cantina or any other interior site, and a passenger has Presence even while aboard a pilotless starship like Gold 5. Some other things can create a presence for you at a location; a permanent pilot on a starship, for example. Q: What is "Present"? A: "Present" simply means that either a card or an attribute of some sort (such as a "spy", boldface in the lore of a card) is in a certain place, without regard to what kind of card or place it is, or whether card has Ability. For example, you are the Dark Side and have a droid, a Laser Projector, and a Lift Tube located at the Death Star: Docking Bay 327. This means, with regard to this location, there is 1) a droid present, 2) a Laser Projector present, and 3) a Lift Tube present. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! There is also a Scomp link present (an icon on the Docking Bay 327 card). There are also two Force generation icons present (one for each side), etc. You would also have to look at the opponent's side of the location to see if there were any other things present; any cards he has at the location would also be "present" there. Things can also be "present" at "places" other than a site or system location; for example, the Millennium Falcon might have several characters aboard, each carrying a weapon or device, plus a starship weapon like Quad Laser Cannons deployed on it, and a Scomp link or other such things on it. All these things would be "present" on the Millennium Falcon. To some extent, "present" can get blurry when a thing can be naturally thought of as present at two places at once. For example, a pilot can be present aboard his starship, and also present at the system where the starship is located. He is present at both. In cases like this, if a card asks you whether something is present, simply use common sense. For example, if you want Vader to kill someone using the Physical Choke card, and Vader is currently on a starship, it makes sense that he could only physically choke a character on the same starship, not at another starship at the same system. On the other hand, Dark Jedi Presence would logically work for all the other pilots at the system as Vader, whether on the same ship or not, unless Vader was a passenger and not a pilot. Q: What is the difference between "PRESENCE" and "PRESENT"? A: One way to think of the difference between the two is like this: "Presence" is something you either do or don't "have" at a location. "Present" is something which cards either "are" or "are not" at a location. For example, a droid and a laser projector are present at the location, but you don't have any presence there. Here are some other common notes about present / presence: 1. Pilots and astromechs are all present at a system location. 2. Non-astromech passengers are not considered to be present in a starship battle, although they are present on board the starship for other purposes. They may not utilize game text in starship battles unless it specifically deals with starships (as is the case of astromech droids). This is a clarification from the previous ruling. 3. Vehicles, including creature vehicles, are present at interior sites for some purposes, but not for interior combat. 4. Cards subject to a Rebel / Imperial Barrier are present at the location for some purposes, but not for combat. 5. Asleep characters are present, but have no presence (because Dark Hours reduces their Ability to zero). DESTINY DRAWING DESTINY Q: Is taking a destiny draw optional? Q: Cannot draw is "lower" than a draw of a location? Q: Need to draw two but only one card? Q: Activate everything so no cards to make destiny draws? Q: Cards that only work if exactly one destiny is drawn? Q: "Add one destiny" vs "Add 1 to destiny"? TIMING OF DESTINY DRAWS Q: Kal'Falnl C'ndros versus Takeel? Q: Kal'Falnl C'ndros versus Darth Vader? BATTLE DESTINY Q: What is a "Battle destiny"? CANCELLING DESTINY DRAWS Q: Grand Moff Tarkin versus Han Solo or Han's Dice? DRAWING DESTINY Q: Is taking a destiny draw optional? What if I don't have any cards left in my Reserve deck, where do I draw from? A: Drawing battle destiny is optional, but drawing destiny for an interrupt or other card is not, unless the Interrupt says "may" on it. So, if you have carefully saved one destiny draw to do a battle on your opponent's turn, he can play an Interrupt that requires you to draw and you will have to do so. If you don't have any cards left in your Reserve pile, then the draw fails a"nd you are unsuccessful in whatever the action was. Q: What if my opponent cannot draw, and I draw a location? Who is higher? A: When one player cannot draw destiny or chooses not to draw, their destiny fails. This is worse than drawing a 0 destiny, so when you draw a location and your opponent doesn't draw, your destiny is "higher" although both have a value of zero. Q: If drawing for destiny where you get two destiny draws and you have only one card in Reserve deck to draw, what happens? A: You would not get to draw the second destiny. You could draw the first, but not the second. Q: So I'm in trouble at the end of the game when I have to activate a bunch and won't have any cards left in my reserve pile, so I can't get any destiny draws? A: Note that you do not have to activate all the Force to which you are entitled. Often in the late game you need to leave some cards in the Reserve deck for destiny draws. Managing your Force is a very important strategy to learn. Q: Some cards, like Kal'Falnl C'ndros or Takeel, imply that they only work if exactly one destiny is drawn. Is this right? If so, can the Light side, if getting two destiny draws, when one is cancelled, use Kal's game text to affect the Dark's draw? A: Correct...Takeel can only switch destinies if exactly one is drawn by each player, and the same is true of Kal's. However, if one of two draws is cancelled, it is as if it was never drawn, so her skill would then apply. Q: When the text tells you to "add one destiny" does this mean add +1 to your destiny number or draw an extra destiny card? A: "Add one destiny" this means that you draw an additional card, and add the destiny number to your total for attrition and for power. If you did not have a destiny draw and play a card that lets you "add one", then you get one destiny draw. "Add 1 to destiny" means that you get +1 value. TIMING OF DESTINY DRAWS Q: I have Kal'Falnl C'ndros, Leesub Sirln and Owen Lars at the Rebel Cantina. My opponent has Djas Puhr, whose power is 3. We draw destiny. Mine is three, his is one. He uses a Force to play Takeel, switching the destiny draws. When does Kal's skill reducing the opponent's destiny to zero take place? Who gets a destiny of what in the end? A: Kal's game text is a continuous thing. So, she reduces the Dark destiny draw to zero, and then the Dark Takeels it. She would not affect the new destiny number that the Dark has, because that was in actuality the Light draw! So, in this example the Dark would have an end destiny of three, and the Light zero. Q: Kal'Falnl C'ndros and Darth Vader, when do their respective skills happen after drawing destiny? Which one is "faster"? A: Kal and Vader are somewhat special, as their game text specifies a continuous action that can affect destiny draws. Neither Kal nor Vader are "faster", they both happen all the time that their condition is satisfied. So, Vader would add 1, and Kal would reduce it to zero. Basically, Kal would override Vader's bonus. The only way Vader could give a total of 1 rather than zero, is if Vader happened after Kal reduced it to zero (which Vader doesn't do). So, Kal "wins" and the Dark has zero destiny value (not 1). In the situation where the Dark has a draw of 3 and the Light a draw of 4, it's possible to interpret the situation so that Vader would add 1 and invalidate Kal's skill. However, the only way that Vader could do this is if he adds the +1 before Kal checks the draw, which he doesn't do. Again, Kal "wins". Q: If a battle occurred involving Kal'Falnl C'ndros and Darth Vader where both sides draw battle destiny. The Light side draws a 4 and the Dark a 2. Kal's game text says that if Light side destiny is higher than Dark's destiny = 0, but Vader's text adds one to it, so would the the Dark have a destiny of 1 or 0? A: 1) In this situation, both Kal and Vader have continuous actions that affect the destiny. Vader adds 1, but Kal reduces it to zero. Basically, Kal overrides Vader's bonus, keeping the Dark destiny at zero. BATTLE DESTINY Q: What is a "Battle destiny"? A: As stated in the glossary, a battle destiny is a "destiny drawn at end of battle for power and attrition only (not for weapons)." We gave it this name to distinguish between other kinds of destiny draws; "weapon destiny" (drawing destiny when shooting a weapon during the weapon phase of a battle), or normal destiny draws made in response from an instructed on a card, such as to see if an interrupt works for you or not. SeeBATTLE DESTINY under BATTLE CANCELLING DESTINY DRAWS Q: When together, Vader and Tarkin cancel the opponent's destiny draw. If this is done, can Han's skill or Han's Dice be used to circumvent this problem? A: Once a destiny is cancelled, there is nothing for Han or the Dice to switch / replace. Q: If Han solo is on the Falcon and the Dark has Vader with Tarkin, does Solo still get to draw another card even if Vader / Tarkin cancels his 1st battle destiny? Or does Vader / Tarkin "text" go to stop him from drawing a battle destiny totally? A: Han's text has two parts relevant here. The last sentence on his card will allow the Light to get a destiny if otherwise not able to. So, when first determining to see who gets destiny the Light will get a draw. Now, both sides might want to use their respective cancel skills. Depending on who is attacking, one or the other will get to declare first. Whichever way, Tarkin should be able to cancel the Light draw totally. REACT :+Q:Default 'React' rules? Q: React versus Interrupt timing? Q: Several cards Reacting in a single battle? REACT MOVEMENT Q: A single card Reacting multiple times in a turn? Q: Vehicles picking up characters on the way to a React? Q: Reacting via Docking Bay transport? Q: Reacting to your own battle? Q: Reacting with Dantooine (Dark)? Q: Loading TIEs onto a Star Destroyer as a React? REACT DEPLOYMENT Q: Deploying Effects as a React? +Q: What are the rules for a 'React'? +A: The default rules for a React are: 1. You may only React with a card that says it can React. 2. You may only React TO the location involved, not AWAY. 3. You must still use Force for React movement or deployment, and obey other requirements. Q: If you want to 'react' and use an interrupt which happens first? A: Doing a React, playing an interrupt, and utilizing the game text of any card in play all fall under the timing rules. They are all individual game actions which play out in sequence. If you wanted to do two things, you would have to pick which one you want to do first. If both you and your opponent want to do something, he just announced the battle so you get to respond, and then you alternate. He would still get to do his interrupt before you could React AND do your interrupt, though. His would go in between. See INTERRUPTS AND TIMING. Q: Is there ever more than one React to a single battle? If CZ-3 and a Landspeeder are both available, are they treated as one React, or two (this matters because of "Sense")? A: Yes, multiple Reacts are allowed. Using a vehicle and CZ-3 are two distinct Reacts, and each is a game action. Both may be used in the same battle or force drain, however. Nevertheless, deploying multiple cards for CZ-3 is one React, and if your opponent successfully cancels it with a Sense, that means that the Sense stops all deployment, not just one. REACT MOVEMENT Q: Can Luke in his speeder really React to 6 Force drains since he moves for free and can he really hold off the entire Empire single-handedly? A: No. Each card may only do regular site-to-site or system-to-system movement once each turn. If a card Reacts to a Force drain, it may not React to a second Force drain or a battle later that turn. Q: Can a vehicle react to a battle by going and picking up characters and bringing them to the battle? A: Yes it can, as long as it has the sufficient landspeed and starts out with a driver. Q: Can something that says 'may move as a react' move during the opponents turn through a docking bay using the transit? A: 4) No, you can't. You may not react via docking bay transit, because React is a special type of movement. The various methods of transport (p27) are not movement, so are not eligible. Q: Can use a landspeeder to react to a battle you started? A: No. React is only to a battle or force drain that your opponent initiates, unless the card states otherwise. It thus is normally only something that happens during the opponent's turn; as you would expect, because the very reason the concept of 'reacting' exists is to provide a limited way for the player to move in response to what the opponent does during the opponent's turn. Thus, this is why one character / starship cannot 'react' more than once per opponent's turn, just as the character can only 'move' once during your own turn. Q: DARK DANTOOINE AS A REACT - During my turn, I throw a Collision where my opponent has 2 Star Destroyers and a TIE. Dantooine is out, letting him move as a react. He does so, and the Star Destroyers depart. How would this resolve? A: Let's his starships are at, say Tatooine, and that he has sufficient Force for the movement, so that your example is valid. Interrupts (and everything else) resolve in the order in which they are declared. (p15) Reacting to Dantooine after you play a Collision doesnıt cancel the Collision, thus your interrupt goes first. THEN he can move to Dantooine if he wishes. Q: LOADING TIES AS A REACT - Can I move a TIE onto a Star Destroyer to move the SD as a React? A: Yes, you may, assuming that you are allowed to move the SD as a React to another system. REACT DEPLOYMENT Q: DEPLOYING AS A REACT - Can you deploy Effects as a react? A: Yes, but only if there is a card that allows such React deployment (CZ-3 / Comlink). And even then, you have to obey the general react rules. For example, if your opponent attacked your Rebel Trooper and CZ-3 at Mos Eisley, you could deploy a Sai'torr Kal Fas on your Trooper, but you could not deploy a Nightfall at Tatooine. The reason is that you can only deploy to Mos Eisley, and the Nightfall is on the Tatooine system location. TIMING Q: General Timing rules?: Q: Sense versus Elis Helrot destiny draw? Q: Interrupt allowed before Force Activation? Q: Interrupt during a phase that opponent skips?: REQUIREMENTS Q: Default cost of an Interrupt? CANCELLING OR MODIFYING Q: Costs of cancelled Interrupt still paid? Q: Cancel Interrupt after it has resolved? Q: Sense versus Sense? RESOULTION Q: Can you give a simple outline of timing resolution? Q: What are some general timing rules? A: Here are some important rules on timing: 1. Players strictly alternate with actions or interrupts that they wish to do. For example, I declare a battle, you respond with a React, I play an interrupt, you play an interrupt, etc. If one player doesn't wish to do something, then the other player may do two in a row. If neither player wishes to do something, then proceed to the next step in the rulebook. 2. Multiple game actions may indeed be declared in sequence before any of them "resolve". Thus, multiple "when a battle has just been declared" actions may be declared right after one player initiates a battle, as long as both players alternate in their declarations (one player may not have anything to do, in which case the other player may do two or more in a row). 3. There is no "speed" of game actions, so everything has the same "weight" in terms of sequencing. 4. Since actions resolve in the order they are played, an interrupt does not really "interrupt" anything. They are called interrupts because they can "interrupt" your opponent's turn. On pp15-16 of the rules, it says, "If several interrupts are played, they are handled in the order in which they were played. An exception occurs when you play an interrupt that cancels or affects the previous interrupt. In this instance, you get an opportunity to cancel the previous card and, if successful, the earlier interrupt is immediately discarded to the Lost Pile...." 5. Using the game text of cards already in play works like an Interrupt in that you may do most of them on your opponent's turn and they are resolved using the same timing rules. So, whenever rulings talk about interrupts they are also applicable to using the game text of cards you have in play. 6. Since there is no "speed" in SWCCG, an interrupt is not "faster" than an deploying an Effect or some other new action. What makes an interrupt different is that it may be done in response to something your opponent does, and it may be done on his turn. Deploying cards, announcing a battle, etc may only be a new action and may not be done in response to something else. And so, both players have the opportunity to do all the interrupts they wish before any new actions may be performed. 7. To sequence things, if one player has just done an action or interrupt, then the other player gets to go next, and then they alternate. Your opponent can't ever do two things in a row without you being able to respond, unless you have nothing you wish to do. Rarely, it will come down to a genuine situation where both players want to do something at exactly the same time, in which case the player whose turn it is gets to go first. 8. When announcing any action, you must use Force and finish all costs before your opponent has the opportunity to respond. If your opponent's response cancels or says it specifically modifies your action, it resolves before yours does. If you're supposed to draw destiny to see if your actions succeed, then be sure and do that when yours resolves, which would be after his has. For example, if you play an Interrupt such as Friendly Fire and he wants to Sense it, you will not draw destiny for the Friendly Fire until after the Sense has resolved. 9. Note that it is a necessary courtesy to your opponent to always provide him or her with the opportunity to respond to each of your actions in the game. You cannot, for example, lay down three interrupts at once and claim your are making three actions in a row, leaving him or her no opportunity to respond to each of them. This does not mean you have to slow down the pace of play, but it does mean that if you are making several actions quickly the opponent can say, "Wait a minute, hold on, I want to play an interrupt after you deployed that character.", and you would need to allow it. See JUST" under DEFINED TERMS. Q: Does my opponent get to try to Sense my Elis Helrot before or after I draw destiny to see how much it costs? A: All of the costs are paid and requirements are checked before your opponent gets to try to do a cancelling or modifying action. So, draw destiny for your Elis, and use the required Force (or not as Elis allows), and after that your opponent may try to play his Sense card. It's not always after destiny, however, because many actions require a destiny to see if successful, which is done on resolution of the action. To summarize: a) Announce the action b) Use required Force and resolve other costs (if any), check requirements c) Opponent may cancel or modify d) Action resolves Q: Can I do an Interrupt on my opponent's turn before he activates Force? A: Yes. You may not, however, do an Interrupt in between activating Force from one location and activating Force from another location. Activating Force is one action and happens all at once. This is a clarification of a previous ruling. Q: What if I want to do something on my opponent's Deploy phase, and he skips right through it real fast? Or, what if he deploys a bunch of stuff all at once when I would have done something to one of the deployments? A: "Entering a new phase" is a game action; like all actions, the opponent must be given a chance to respond between the last action of a phase and switching to the next phase. If you don't go through a phase (you skip it), such as skipping directly from control phase to draw phase, your opponent can say "Wait!" and play, for example, a card that can only play during a move phase. Whenever one player does a string of actions like this (skipping phases, deploying a bunch of cards at once, etc.), without giving time in between each action in the string, the opponent gets a chance to respond to the actions that flew by if desired. This is all a matter of sportsmanship, and not really something that can be rigidly enforceable. The basic concept is that "fair time" must be given for your opponent do to any action he might want to do. This doesn't mean you have to play slowly, just that you should allow your opponent the chance to say "wait!" if you move too quickly, etc. REQUIREMENTS Q: Do interrupts have an inherent "casting cost"? Do they cost 1 Force plus whatever it says on them? Do cards that have no cost on them cost 1 or nothing? A: There is no inherent "casting cost". A card which has no deploy cost listed on it doesnıt require any expenditure of Force to deploy. CANCELLING OR MODIFYING Q: If I play an Interrupt card that requires the expenditure of Force, and my opponent cancels it, do I have to still expend the Force as well as lose the card? A: While you are in the process of playing the Interrupt, if the opponent plays a card like Alter that cancels the Interrupt your spent Force will remain in the used pile. The canceled Interrupt goes to the Lost Pile. (p33) Q: When an Interrupt card is played and the procedures are already completed to have its effect, can the opponent then play Sense to cause the interrupt card to be lost? A: You cannot "wait and see" whether the Interrupt is successful before deciding to cancel it. If you wait until the opponent has completed the process of playing the Interrupt, it is then too late to cancel it unless the card which cancels it says it works on any Interrupt "just played." If the interrupt is successful and you try to Sense it, it's too late, the interrupt has already had its effect. An example: 1.Player A announces an I've Lost Artoo! and uses 1 Force. 2.Player B announces a Alter and checks destiny to see if it's successful. 3. If the Alter is successful, the I've Lost Artoo! is lost. If not, it is successfully deployed. Another example: 1. Player A announces a Jawa. He uses 1 Force and his Player B must immediately use 1 Force. Player B has no choice but to do so. 2. Player B may respond with other game actions. If they cancel or specifically modify the deployment of the Jawa, then they will resolve first. Otherwise, the Jawa will resolve first. 3. The Jawa resolves. This is a clarification of a previous ruling on Jawas. Q: SENSE WARS: How do you resolve the following: 1. Dark Side plays 'Counter Assault' 2. Light Side plays 'Sense' to cancel 'Counter Assault' 3. Dark Side plays 'Sense' to cancel previous 'Sense' 4. Light Side plays 'Sense' to cancel previous 'Sense' 5. Dark Side plays 'Alter' to cancel previous 'Sense' A: Here's an outline: Resolve 5 Alter: automatically successful. 4 is cancelled and goes to Lost pile, thus 3 "goes through" Resolve 3 Sense, draw destiny If 3 Sense is successful 2 is cancelled and goes to Lost, thus 1 "goes through" Resolve 1 If 3 Sense is not successful Resolve 2 Sense, draw destiny If 2 Sense is successful 1 Counter Assault is cancelled and is lost If 2 Sense is not successful Resolve 1 Counter Assault RESOLUTION Q: Can you give a simple outline of timing resolution? A: Yes! In its basic form, the entire game is composed of game actions. A game action takes the form of: 1. Declaration 2. Resolution Any "Declaration" may be responded to by the opponent, with her own game action, itself with a Declaration and a Resolution. So, an action with a response would look like this: 1.Declaration of Action A by Light Side 2.Declaration of Action B by Dark Side 3.Resolution of Action A 4.Resolution of Action B Now, the above assumes that Action B does not cancel or specifically say it modifies Action A. If it does in fact do so, then it would look like this: 1.Declaration of Action A by Light Side 2.Declaration of Action B by Dark Side 3.Resolution of Action B 4.Resolution of Action A Now, the only real complication are "multi-stage" actions like battles. A battle is composed of multiple actions, yet the battle itself is an action. Further game actions may modify either the battle or any of the actions inside of the battle. CUMULATIVE CARDS Q: Many cards seem to be cumulative and very powerful, but they aren't Unique. Is this right? Q: Many cards seem to be cumulative and very powerful, but they aren't Unique. Is this right? A: In general, once card X has a bonus from card Y, X may not obtain the same bonus from another copy of Y. We have come to call this the "X-Y Rule". For example, if in a battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi, multiple Jedi Presence may be played but only the first one will provide a x2 bonus. The others will give that same bonus, but they do not double one another. In effect, the second Jedi Presence does not give x4, nor does it give x2 the result of the previous Jedi Presence. It merely gives a x2 bonus which is already there and thus has no effect. This is not well stated in the rules but it makes sense because Obi-Wan is either there or he is not. What would it mean if you play two Jedi Presences? Is he REALLY there?! This rule also applies to bonuses in general...once any situation has a bonus from a card Y, another copy of card Y is not effective. An example where this might be confusing would be Out Of Nowhere. Once the battle has an Out Of Nowhere "surprise" bonus, another will not help further, even if played on another starship altogether. Itıs the surprise that is the bonus, being at a key spot at the right time. Having additional starships at that critical juncture does not help any more, although they may certainly help fight in the battle by adding power as is normally done. Why not make these cards Unique, then? The reason is that in the future, there will be more Jedi and Dark Jedi, with one of each in several battles. It would certainly be legal and good gameplay to use a Jedi Presence in two or more such battles on the same turn, and we need to allow that. Another example would be using two Baniss Keeg cards upon a Stormtrooper.