Official Rulings - November 28, 2007
Section 3: Specific Cards - B

Q. I play PACIFISM on one of my Pawns. You play BETRAYAL, taking that same Pawn. What happens to PACIFISM?

A. PACIFISM still affects the new Pawn.

Q. Can a PACIFIST piece be captured by FIREBALL, HOSTAGE, REVENGE, TOLL, DOOMSAYER or SPLIT KNIGHT? Can it be killed (made Dead) by BETRAYAL or DISINTEGRATION?

A. It is not subject to any of the listed capture effects (and cannot itself explode to trigger FIREBALL). It also does not threaten any pieces, so it could not use SPLIT KNIGHT. It may become Dead because of BETRAYAL or DISINTEGRATION.

Q. During a TRUCE, can a piece be captured by FIREBALL, HOSTAGE, REVENGE, TOLL, DOOMSAYER or SPLIT KNIGHT? Can it be killed (made Dead) by BETRAYAL or DISINTEGRATION?

A. Pieces are not subject to any of the listed capture effects during a TRUCE (and none may explode to trigger FIREBALL). They also do not threaten any pieces, so none could use SPLIT KNIGHT. They may become Dead because of BETRAYAL or DISINTEGRATION.

Q. Does the 'Frontier' change along with the EARTHQUAKE for the purposes of TOLL or BETRAYAL?

A. Yes.

Q. I played MEDUSA, turned a piece to stone. Opponent did not play a card on his turn. My next turn, I moved a piece then played HAUNTING MEMORIES. Later opponent plays BIG MOJO on MEDUSA. Does BIG MOJO clear both MEDUSA effects, or only one?

A. Only one.

Q. On the first turn, White plays PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS, then BLACK WIDOW (which places both Kings in
check). Does this violate the Checkmate Rule? The Black King can simply capture the White Queen on Black's turn so the card doesn't cause checkmate.

A. Anything that doesn't cause checkmate cannot violate the Checkmate Rule. It would violate the Check Move rule, unless the second card with PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS is played so White does not end his turn in check.

Q. VENDETTA is in play (each must make a capture). Black captures a White piece with a Rook. White wants to BOG the Rook, preventing the capture. Can he do this? Is VENDETTA ended?

A. White may play BOG. Black has now made a move that would be illegal under the strictures of Vendetta, but it doesn't violate the Checkmate Rule. VENDETTA remains, however, because a capture was possible without using a card, which is the condition of the VENDETTA card.

Q. If I move a Rook, Bishop, or Queen two or more squares and play FIREBALL, then my opponent plays BOG, what happens?

A. Your piece moves one square in the appropriate direction and explodes, taking out the pieces adjacent to its final position.

Q. Can my opponent BOG my Knight moving as a Queen via MASQUERADE?

A. No. BOG does not affect Knights, and MASQUERADE does not make your Knight a Queen — it only moves as if it were a Queen. This is true for all cards that allow pieces to move as if they were other pieces. He may, however, BOG your Bishop moving as a Queen.

Q. So I can BOG my opponent's Queen moving as a Knight (DUBBING)?

A. No; the Knight-like move does not qualify for the BOG effect.

Q. So a Queen CONFABULATED with a Knight and making a Knight move can't be BOGGED?

A. Right.

Q. What happens if my Rook is adjacent to one of my own pieces, I play BOMBARD to jump over that piece, and my opponent plays BOG?

A. Count the square beyond the adjacent piece as the first square of the move (i.e., the Rook stops its move on the other side of the adjacent piece). Similarly for GHOSTWALK — the first empty square counts as the first square of the move.

Q. How does BOG work against pieces utilizing cards like MERCILESS and CRUSADE? When, precisely, does the piece get BOGGED? Does the BOGGED piece get to move one square in the first direction and stop OR does it get to move its full movement for the first move and them one square in extra direction? Does the player the card (MERCILESS, CRUSADE, etc.) back?

A. The double-move cards are treated as if the total displacement of the piece were one move. So BOG would cause it to end its move one square from the square where it began that turn. The double-move card is still considered used, so the player does not get it back.

Q. Can BOG ever be played to delay/ignore a potential checkmate situation involving a Rook? I know that in chess a King is never captured, but the threat of a capture is certainly always implied. But BOG can only be played after the Rook actually moves... and the Rook never moves to actually take the King.

A. It is not legal. Even in Knightmare Chess, you cannot leave your King in check at the end of your turn, even if you have a
capture-cancelling card (BOG, THINK AGAIN!, etc.) in hand.

Q. For purposes of BOMBARD, if FORBIDDEN CITY is immediately behind (or in front of) a FORTIFICATION, is that considered one obstruction or two? Is a piece behind/in front of a FORTIFICATION one obstruction or two?

A. The FORTIFICATION edge is one obstruction, and any piece (or FORBIDDEN CITY) also in the way would be a second.

Q. Can BREAKTHROUGH allow a pawn on his home rank to capture a piece with a two-square forward move?

A. Yes.

Q. Can NEUTRAL pieces be BRIBED?

A. Yes, although NEUTRALITY will still be in effect on it.

Q. I played WARLORD and moved within two squares to my opponent's King. He played BRIBERY on my King, which enables any piece but a Queen to swap sides. It does not say anything about the King changing sides.

A. I doubt that he had a captured King to "power" BRIBERY, but in any event the Checkmate Rule prohibits taking your opponent's last King by use of a regular card.

Q. When you say "have had one captured," does one refer to a King with WARLORD, or just any King? Once a WARLORD is captured, that King no longer has the WARLORD power.

A. Any old King (the card refers to "a similar, captured piece"). The new King would still be under the effect of the WARLORD card.

Q. BRIBERY talks about threatening pieces. In a checkmate situation, are those just the ones that have the King in their range or does it include the ones contribute to the checkmate by putting squares adjacent to the King in their range?

A. Only the ones that have the King in their range.

Q. When BRIBERY is played, what happens to the piece that was originally doing the threatening, the one that the card was played on? Is it now captured? Or dead?

A. Dead, but not lost or captured -- he changed sides, so he can't be brought back by cards that bring captured pieces back.

Q. When you play BRIBERY on a piece that has been transformed by a Continuing Effect card, does the captured piece you're replacing it with have to also be transformed? even if the Continuing Effect has ended due to capture?

A. No, to the first question (making the second question moot).

Q. Can BRIBERY by used by an HEIR when it it threatened?

A. Yes.

Q. Can you play BRIBERY when your Prince (from a COUP) is threatened?

A. Yes. Any threat against any King is a check, and it is okay to leave any King in check as long as its loss will not lose the game. So BRIBERY could be used when a Prince is threatened.

Q. If an HEIR is giving check, can the other player use BRIBERY to make the HEIR change sides?

A. Yes, as long as your opponent had previously lost a King and you have more than one King in play. This satisifies the conditions on BRIBERY and does not violate the Checkmate Rule. Identical situation holds for WARLORD.

Q. I used BROTHERS IN ARMS to move two Pawns. My opponent cancelled my move via THINK AGAIN!. I interpreted this as I must move two different Pawns (or do something else completely different and retract the card). Is this correct? I'm assuming I can't move one of the original two Pawns and choose a different one to move (my opponent is preventing the move I made with either or both Pawns).

A. You can move two different Pawns, or one of the same Pawns and one different Pawn, or the same Pawns (at least one of which must go to a different square that it moved to before).

Q: FUNERAL PYRE would only affect the card LEGION OF HONOR, right? That card says it returns one of your captured pieces, whereas BATTLEFIELD PROMOTION, for instance, is a promotion -- not a return of a captured piece.

A: BATTLEFIELD PROMOTION would not be affected by the earlier play of FUNERAL PYRE, right. FUNERAL PYRE will affect the subsequent play of other cards in addition to LEGION OF HONOR though: BRIBERY, BODYGUARD, CONSCRIPTION, DEMOTION, ROOKED, VOLUNTEER, BLIND FATE, and PRISONER EXCHANGE would also potentially be affected.

Q: I place my opponent in check with my Paladin. He plays BRIBERY, but has never had a Paladin during the game; he has had a Knight captured previously, though. What happens?

A: The Paladin changes sides: the original Knight piece dies (is not placed with the captured pieces) and is replaced with a Knight of the BRIBERY player.