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Answerless FAQ

Page history last edited by Darth Trumpetus 11 years, 9 months ago

Answerless FAQ

 

Unfortunately, the rules that Hasbro provided with the game are often times unclear and incomplete. There are several card combinations and rules for which there is no definitive answer or ruling from Hasbro. As such, this page is an FAQ for which there are no answers. Both sides of the answer will be presented, but ultimately, it is up to the players to decide which ruling to use, the light side (an interpretive more fair approach) or the dark side (a stricter more literal approach).

 

1. When Luke Skywalker plays I Will Not Fight You against Mace Windu, does Mace have to discard any Battleminds that are in his hand?

 

Light Side: Yes. When you play Battlemind, the value of it is equal to the number of cards in your hand, minus the Battlemind itself. So, when I Will Not Fight You is played, you simply calculate the value the same way. It is an attack card after all, and therefore you have to discard it. The text on the card that reads "after this card is played" isn't to be taken literally, it's just worded that way so you don't try to count the Battlemind card you're playing when calculating the attack and defense value. So, if you had 6 cards in your hand, each Battlemind would have an attack and defense value of 5.

 

Dark Side: No. The card specifically says that the attack and defense values are equal to the number of cards in your hand *after* the card is played. Therefore, it would not have a value until it is actually played, and would thus be unaffected by I Will Not Fight You. The attack and defense values are asterisks, not numbers, and it is only after the card is actually played that it has any real value.

 

NOTE: Unofficially, Rob Daviau (co-designer of Epic Duels) alledgedly said the following regarding Battlemind vs I Will Not Fight You: "Battlemind is valueless in your hand but neither of us can figure out why people would be asking. Are there custom-made decks that would bring this question up or is it something from the published game?"

 

2. If Darth Maul plays Blinding Surge against an attack that is enough to kill him, and the attacking character only has 3 hit points left (and would therefore also be destroyed from Blinding Surge), does Darth Maul still lose, or is it a tie?

 

Light Side: It is a tie. If a card is played it must be fully resolved. So, Darth Maul would die from the attack, and then you would resolve Blinding Surge and the opponent would also die, thus resulting in a tie as both characters are destroyed during the same action.

 

Dark Side: Darth Maul still loses. The directions state that after damage is resolved, additional effects come into play. Attacker's additional effects on Power Combat cards are resolved before the defender's. Darth Maul would technically already be dead before the additional effects come into play. The instructions also state that the game ends when one character is destroyed. So, logically, if Darth Maul is destroyed after the attack damage is resolved, the additional effects would not matter, because Darth Maul is already dead. Even if you resolved the damage from the additional effects and Maul's opponent was destroyed as a result, Maul still died first, and would lose the duel.

 

3. Can cards like Anakin's Wrath that specfiy "any minor character" and Emperor's Force Lightning that specify "any character" target anyone, including allies? Or can it only target enemies?

 

Light Side: You can only target enemies. This is an oversight by the game designers; the evidence is in the wording on other cards that do not do damage, like Meditation and Insight, that specify an opponent.

 

Dark Side: You can target anyone. Greedo's Sudden Arrival specifies "any" character, just like Force Lightning and Force Push.

 

4. Can cards like Boba's Thermal Detonator and Wrist Cable that specify "characters he can attack" target anyone, including his allies, or can it only target enemies?

 

Light Side: He can target anyone, including Greedo or any allies in team games. The "characters he can attack" text is just another way to say "line of sight." So, Greedo or any other allies are legitimate targets. Similarly, Never Tell Me The Odds and Whirlwind specifies "opponent's" characters so-and-so can attack whereas Wrist Cable and Thermal Detonator do not. This suggests that if a distinction was made for Never Tell Me The Odds and Whirlwind (where it says "Han/Mace" do X damage), that other cards that don't specify "opponent's" characters (and say "Thermal Detonator/Cable Shot" do X damage) could logically target anyone including allies. As Wrist Cable and Thermal Detonator are objects that could hit anyone and don't necessarily need the precise targeting required of an attack, whereas NTMTO and WW are the character doing damage (like an attack), it would further make sense for there to be a distinction. Therefore Thermal Detonator and Wrist Cable can target anyone, including allies and enemies.

 

Dark Side: They can only target enemies. Since technically Boba or Jango can't actually attack Greedo or any other allies (see the rulebook for valid attack position), they would not be legitimate targets of a card like that, because the card specifies "characters he can attack." The fact that Never Tell Me The Odds and Whirlwind say "oppponent's" character so and so can attack and Thermal Detonator and Wrist Cable do not, is an editing mistake and oversight by the game designers.

 

5. If a player cycles their deck twice, who wins?

 

Consider a situation in which Obi-Wan Kenobi, with 18 HP, has taken 10 points of damage, with 8 points remaining, and the Emperor, with 13 HP, has taken 8 points of damage, with 5 HP remaining.

 

Light Side: Obi-Wan wins the game. He has taken only just barely half of his HP total in damage and is further from death than the Emperor. That he technically took more damage than the Emperor is beside the point. The rule book says "...the player whose main character has the least amount of damage wins." So, since Obi-Wan "has {taken} the least amount of damage {in proportion to his total amount of hit points}", he wins.

 

Dark Side: The Emperor wins. He has taken only 8 points of damage to Obi-Wans 10 points. That his life track is appreciably shorter than Obi-Wan's is beside the point. The rule book says "...the player whose main character has the least amount of damage wins." So, since Palpatine "has {taken} the least amount of {recorded} damage", he wins.

 

6. Can Yoda's Force Push be played against a Force Lifted character, and could Yoda's teammates move the Force Lifted character as well?

 

Light Side: Yes, the Lifted character can be moved by special cards that are not their own. So, Yoda could Force Push a Force Lifted character, or any of Yoda's teammates could also move a Lifted character. The card is meant to stop the Lifted character from moving of their own accord, but if Yoda or his allies (aka, the Lifted character's opponents) wants to move them, they should be able to.

 

Dark Side: No, a Lifted character cannot be moved, period. The card says they can't be moved, so it doesn't matter how or where the movement is coming from, the character can't move until their figure stands back up. So, Yoda cannot Force Push a Lifted character, and Yoda's teammates also cannot move them in any way, shape or form.

 

7. When I play Anakin's Wrath, do I have to move Anakin in order to do the 7 damage?

 

Light Side: Yes. The second sentence on the card "That character receives 7 damage" references the minor character Anakin moved adjacent to. So, if Anakin doesn't move, then the character the second sentence refers to doesn't end up refering to anything, hence no damage is done.

 

Dark Side: No. The card says "You may move Anakin", therefore the movement is optional. You can still name the minor character you intend to target with the card, but not move adjacent to them.

 

NOTE: Unofficially, Rob Daviau (co-designer of Epic Duels) alledgedly said the following regarding Wrath: "yes, you must move Anakin next to the target to do the 7 damage. The 'may' refers to the fact that, if you are already next to your target you don't have to move to a new spot next to that target in order to do damage. In other words, you don't have to move to do the damage but you do have to be adjacent to your target."

 

8. At what point are you "required" to reshuffle your discard pile to form a new draw pile and what does "goes through your draw pile" really mean?

 

Light Side: You must reshuffle your discard pile into your draw pile whenever you try to draw a card, but can't.  Your draw pile is only exhuasted and only "gone through" when you try to make use of a card, but can't draw one.  This means that you are free to conintue playing and discarding cards with an empty draw pile, as long as you haven't tried to draw a card.  But once you try to draw a card, you then must immediately reshuffle.

 

Dark Side: You must reshuffle your discard pile the moment you draw the last card from your draw pile.  "Goes through your draw pile" means that the moment the last card is drawn, you have an empty pile and therefore it has been "gone through".  Hence, you are not allowed to continue playing cards until you need to draw before reshuffling.

 

9. Does Vader heal 3 points with Dark Side Drain if the defending character takes 3 damage, but has less than 3 hit points remaining?

 

Light Side: No.  Vader would only heal an amount based on the number of "ticks" the damage counter moves.  So, if a character only has 2 hit points remaining and doesn't defend, logically, there would only be 2 damage points that Vader could "drain" from them and heal with.  The card is meant to depict the force power "dark drain" which drains an opponent's life force.  Therefore, if the opponent only has 2 hit points (or life force) left, Vader could only heal 2 points.

 

Dark Side: Yes. There is no definition of "damage done" provided in the rulebook.  But, based on the way other cards are worded, (like Anakin's Wrath and Vader's Choke) an amount of damage is done to a character regardless of the amount of hit points they may or may not have remaining.  So, if Vader attacks and Dark Side Drain goes undefended, the damage done is 3, and therefore Vader would heal 3.  The amount of hit points remaining on the defender is not relevant.

 

10. When Yoda plays Force Rebound, what does "attack number" really mean?  When rebounding cards like Battlemind, there is no "number" printed, so would Mace take any damage?  Similarly, what about cards with conditional values like Justice and Sniper Shot, would the base number that is "printed" on the card be rebounded, or the conditional value? 

 

Light Side: While there is no official definition of what "attack number" actually means, the rulebook uses the phrase "attack value" repeatedly to describe the amount of an attack.  So, it can be assumed that "attack number" and "attack value" are actually the same thing.  So, yes, Mace would take damage from Force Rebound equal to whatever the value of Battlemind was when played, and Luke will take damage equal to whatever the value of Justice was when played.

 

Dark Side: If you take the meaning of the words "attack number printed on the card" literally, then cards like Battlemind would have nothing to rebound, since there is no number printed on the card, and Mace would take no damage.   Similarly, Luke would always only take 4 damage from Justice, regardless of the conditions of Leia being alive or not, because the number 4 is what is printed on the card.

 

back to Rules

 

Comments (6)

Anonymous said

at 4:46 am on Feb 22, 2008

Remind me what the ideological difference was supposed to be between Light and Dark answers, because I think there are some that are switched. Not that it really matters, but Mr. Daviau is watching. :)

Anonymous said

at 10:16 am on Feb 26, 2008

First paragraph explains the distinction. Dark Side = Literal Interpretation. Light Side = More open, fair interpretation. Which ones are switched in your opinion?

Anonymous said

at 3:33 pm on Feb 26, 2008

Ah now I see. The distinction is tied up how the explanations of each answer are worded. For example, the justification for the light side answer to #7 draws on literal interpretation of the words to make the "more open, fair [rules] interpretation." A paradox, but necessary.

Jimbotron44 said

at 9:56 am on Jun 7, 2019

I have one question that may be unanswerable, but I was curious to hear what others thought: the original Dooku deck has a Force Push card that reads "Move any character adjacent to Dooku to any empty space. That character receives 1 damage". Yoda has a similar card, the only difference is that it deals 3 damage as opposed to Dooku's 1. It has never been a game changer in my experience, but does playing it mean that if you play this card as Dooku (or Yoda), you are required to move the affected character to a new space other than the one that they already occupy?

Generally speaking, my circle tends to agree that while this may be considered the literal interpretation of the card, it may not or possibly should not have been its intended application, and that Dooku/Yoda should have free reign to move (or not move) the targeted character to any space that is not currently being occupied by a different character.

Roman F said

at 10:30 am on Jun 7, 2019

Interesting question, one that has never come up before in any of the hundreds (thousands?) of games I've played. It does say to "Move" a character, so I'd say that yes, you have to move that character. It might not make sense thematically for force users as skilled as Yoda and Dooku, but in terms of the game, that's how I think it reads.

umondy said

at 4:11 am on Jun 8, 2019

Funny we had discussions about movement on several occasions. Especially as there are cards that are worded "you may move ...." or "move ... x-spaces". So from a wording perspective one cards gives you the option to move the other one demands. But I always struggles a little with that concept. Especially since I don't know how intentionally that kind of wording has been choosen by the specific deck maker. I do bleeive there is a way to even use this in deck making but this would require to overview all the decks I have and change them accordingly one way or the other. We usually play all the cards as a you MAY move a certain character. But of course would be interesting to have effects that only take place if you actually can and do move somebody as this sometimes is prohibited by terrain, opponents or other stuff.

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