Here I've attempted to pool together some of the most commonly asked questions we're seeing on this board (and others). I will add to it over time, remove any entries added in the official FAQ, etc.
Rules Errata/Clarification:
- RR p9 "by which a player reveals a new plot his or her" should read "plot and his or her"
- RR p20 Stealth "and is not eligible to be declared" should have the text from the L2P guide "cannot be declared".
- RR p23 "interrupts are eligbly" should read "eligible"
Card Errata/Clarification:
- None at this time except that in the official FAQ.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What happens if I have a unique card in play and in the dead pile?
When Revealed: Choose an opponent. Discard 1 card at random from that player’s hand. If that card is a character, gain 2 power for your faction and place the discarded character in its owner’s dead pile.
It is therefore not impossible to wind up with a character that is both in play and in the dead pile. This has no effect on the character currently in play; there is nothing in the rules that prevents this situation. The rules on dead piles/uniques are quite explicit; having a copy in play simply prevents you from playing/putting into play/taking control of further copies. This does have the following practical application: you can no longer place a duplicate on your living copy of the card, as marshalling/putting into play a copy of the card is prevented by the presence of a copy in your dead pile. It's possible the character in play also feels a little shiver run down their spine...
Sources: 1.
2. What is the cost of cancelling an event with printed cost X with "The Hand's Judgement" (Core)?
Interrupt: When the effects of an opponent's event would initiate, cancel those effects. X is that event's printed cost.
The printed value is always the value that is physically printed on the card - regardless of any modifiers (RR p16, "Printed"). In the case of a card with cost "X", the printed cost is the letter X - regardless of what the actual cost paid was. The letter X has its own entry (RR p.23) which clarifies that when not specified by a card ability or player choice, the letter X is treated by the game as 0 (rather than, for instance, "null"). Since player choice or card ability cannot influence the "printed" value, the rules tell us that the printed value of X is equal to 0.
In short, you can cancel an event with printed cost X (including another The Hand's Judgement) with "The Hand's Judgement (Core)" at no cost, regardless of how much gold was spent as part of the cost of the event you are cancelling.
Sources: 1.
3. Can I play "Seen in Flames" (Core) on an opponent with no cards in hand?
Challenges Action: Choose an opponent, and look at his or her hand. Then, choose and discard 1 card from that hand.
No - you are unable to initiate Seen in Flames, because it will not change the game state (no cards will go from not looked at to looked at). It is therefore prohibited under "A card ability can only be initiated if its effect has the potential to change the game state" Abilities, p2.
Sources: 1.
4. Does a card need to be in play/active at the time it's triggering condition happened in order to be initiated/used?
This extremely broad question covers a great many smaller scenarios, from "Can "Melisandre" (Core) react to her own entry into play?", "Can "Benjen Stark" (Core) initiate his interrupt if he was blanked by "Milk of the Poppy" (Core), which was removed by "Viserys" (Core)'s interrupt?", to "Can I initiate "Support of the People" (Westeros), fetch "The Mander" (Core), then initiate it's reaction?" - but they're all essentially asking the same question, and have the same answer: A card does not need to be in play/active at the timing it's triggering condition happened, merely in play/active in the window for its interrupt/reaction to be used. All of the scenarios listed here are possible.
This allows you to string together multiple reactions to the same triggering condition. A helpful way to think of why this is the case is that it would otherwise require a judge to verify that the event you're just playing was in your hand prior to a draw effect, like "The Mander" (Core) to the same triggering condition.
5. Bringing Dupes into Play / Arianne & Duplicates
Credit: ktom
Here, we'll use a more obscure situation (Arianne) as the most complex case, to illustrate some of the intricacies of bringing copies of unique cards into play. Arianne reads:
Action: Put a character with printed cost 5 or lower into play from your hand. Then, return Arianne Martell to your hand (cannot be saved). (Limit once per phase.).
Unique Cards, RRG p. 22: "A player may marshal (or put into play by a card ability) additional copies of each unique card he or she owns and controls, placed as a duplicate on that card, for no cost."
(This establishes that using Arianne's "put into play" ability on a copy of a unique card you already have in play will make that copy enter play as a dupe on the first).
Duplicates, RRG p. 7: "Marshaling a duplicate is not considered marshaling a card of the duplicate’s printed type. It is only considered 'marshaling a duplicate card.'"
(This established that when a dupe enters play, a card of the dupes printed type is not considered to have entered play; only a dupe.)
The Word "Then," RRG p. 21: "If the pre-then aspect of an effect does not successfully resolve in full, the post-then aspect does not attempt to resolve."
(This establishes that if "Put a character into play..." part of Arianne's ability does not successfully resolve, the "Then, return..." part of her ability does not even attempt to resolve, leaving her in play).
Taken together, you CAN dupe a character with Arianne's ability, which does not count as a character entering play, so Arianne is never returned to your hand.
6. Maester Luwin (Westeros)'s granting abilities:
While you control:
-Robb Stark, he gains insight.
-Jon Snow, he gains stealth.
-Bran Stark, he gains: “immune to opponents’ plot effects.â€
-Rickon Stark, he gains pillage.
There have been a number of questions pertaining to these abilities, so I thought I'd combine them all.
1) Each ability is granted to the character it previously refers to (e.g. Robb Stark gains Insight, not Luwin). This is according to the convention of any repetitions of the same proper name being replaced by a pronoun - and, as is usually the case in english, the pronoun replaces the nearest (prior) noun. For any ambiguity, see a card like "Summer (Core)" (While you control Bran Stark, he gains insight)
2) Bran Stark is granted immunity to opponent's plot effects. As this is the first instance of immunity we have, it has raised a few questions:
-He survives Wildfire, even if you do not choose either Luwin or Bran (whom you actually cannot choose) to survive. This is because the plot effect is applied simultaneously, killing all non-chosen characters. There is no moment where Luwin is dead but Wildfire's effect on Bran is still pending. Source: 1
-Marched to the Wall: Bran Stark cannot be chosen to be discarded to Marched to the Wall.
-Fortified Position: As it blanks Luwin's text, it will also affect Bran (who is no longer granted Luwin's protection). Source: 1
3) Jon Snow gains stealth. While this is simple enough with Jon Snow (Wolves), it's a little trickier with Jon Snow (Core), the Night's Watch character. The exact text on Stealth says "When a player initiates a challenge, for each character with stealth he or she declares as an attacker,", but Jon reads: "While Jon Snow is standing, he is considered to be participating in each challenge in which you control another attacking [Night's Watch] character.". Note that this method of participating in a challenge is NOT considered declaring him as an attacker, so he would not be able to bypass anyone with stealth. He can, however, still use his stealth defensively (he can no longer be bypassed by stealth), as well as offensively if he's declared for a challenge (e.g. an intrigue challenge) through regular means, rather than his ability. Source: 1
7. Can Rakharo (Westeros) react to characters killed by claim replacements?
Reaction: After a character is killed to satisfy claim during a challenge you initiated, Rakharo gains 1 power.
Note that when a replacement (indicated by the word "instead") effect is applied, like Seastone Chair (Westeros) or Mirri Maz Duur (Westeros), all it is doing is changing the way whatever it is replacing is resolved. That is to say that "claim" still happens, but instead of working according to the rules in the RR book, it works according to the replacement effect. Here, provided claim happens (it does) and a character dies because of it (in the case of Seastone/Mirri, they will), Rakharo can react and claim a power.
8. What is the timing on "Then" effects (aka "Can Risen from the Sea (Core) save from Dracarys! (Core))
It can be easiest to think of "Then" effects as 'conditional' separation, rather than 'temporal'. That is to say that while one aspect depends upon the other, from the point of view of the game a pre-then and post-then aspect of an effect happened at the same time. They are both part (aspects) of the same effect (cancelled together), and the opportunity to react to either aspect is in the same reaction window. However, *within* resolution of a pre/post-then aspects, there is functionally a timing separation; the two aspects of an effect create separate interrupt opportunities (since one could affect how the other resolves).
Put another way, it can be easiest to think of "then" effects as "and" effects, the only difference being that the successful resolution of one depends upon the other, so that 'internal' to the effect you have to resolve one before the other (and interrupt them in order), external to the effect they function identical to an "and".
The practical considerations include such examples as;
-When bringing in a character with Arianne Martell (Core)'s ability, the reaction opportunity to a character leaving play (Arianne) and a character entering play are the same. You could not affect Arianne with a 'come into play' effect of the character she brought into play.
-Because the effects (both pre-then and post-then) of Risen from the Sea (Core) would take a 4 STR character suffering from Dracarys! (Core) (4-4=0) out of the 0-str kill range, you can initiate the save.
Sources: 1. 2.