Official Rulings - September 17, 2003
Section 3: Specific Cards - C

Q. My Queen is CONFABULATED with my only remaining Knight. Can this piece be CHALLENGED? Can it be captured via RIPOSTE?

A. Yes and no. Your opponent could legally CHALLENGE you to move a Knight, and you would be forced to move the Queen/Knight or forfeit your turn. However, RIPOSTE says that it cannot capture a Queen, therefore it cannot capture the Queen/Knight.

Q. If I put my opponent into check and play CHALLENGE, naming a piece that would not get him out of check, does he lose?

A. No. This violates the Checkmate Rule. If played, the card would be lost and the effects ignored.

Q. If I play PALADIN (or ROYAL KNIGHT or CHAMPION) on a Knight, and my opponent then plays REVELATION on it, what happens?

A. The Knight becomes a Bishop, and PALADIN is suspended. PALADIN remains in play until either the piece is captured or removed from play (where PALADIN is discarded) or until the piece is cahnged back into a Knight. Since REVELATION is not a Continuing Effect, another card would have to be used to transform it back into a Knight, and it may not be affected by cards that affect Knights (but may by cards that affect Bishops, since it is now a Bishop).

Q. What "move" do KNIGHTMARE!, THINK AGAIN!, and CHAOS cancel? Do I play it after my opponent moves a piece, or after his entire turn?

A. They are played after his entire turn, including his optional card play.

Q. After his move, my opponent played PANIC. I made my move, but my opponent then played KNIGHTMARE! (or THINK AGAIN!, or CHAOS). How much time do I have to make my new move?

A. The PANIC is no longer in effect -- you may take your turn under whatever time limits you normally have in your game.

Q. If I play a card that's unrelated to the board state, like PEACE TALKS, and then I have to THINK AGAIN (or KNIGHTMARE! or CHAOS), could I decline to play that card but otherwise make the same exact move on the board? Is it actually the card play AND the board state that must be different here, or is ONLY the board state? If it's only the board state, does that include pieces "off the board"? (i.e. could I get around THINK AGAIN by making the exact same move but [playing / not playing] FUNERAL PYRE?)

A. Board state, ignoring the off-board captured/dead assignments. You could not simply decline the card play and leave the move identical, nor can you circumvent it with FUNERAL PYRE.

Q. If my move is cancelled with the KNIGHTMARE! (or CHAOS or THINK AGAIN!) then could I move my piece into the same spot but using a different route, because really that is a different move?

A. No. The move is the displacement of a piece from one space to another; the route isn't part of the definition of move.

Q. I played RIPOSTE after my opponent captured a piece of mine, so my piece stayed in place and his piece was captured instead. He then attempted to play CHAOS (or KNIGHTMARE! or THINK AGAIN!). Is that legal, since it was my not turn when I played RIPOSTE?

A. No. He would have to use FOG OF WAR to cancel your card.

Q. I play two replace-move cards using PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS. My opponent plays KNIGHTMARE! (or CHAOS or THINK AGAIN!) on my move. Since KNIGHTMARE! is played after my first but lets me take a card back, do I get to take all three cards back?

A. No.  Only the replace-move card involved in the Move that your opponent cancels can be taken back.  KNIGHTMARE! will not cancel both moves in such a PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS play.

Q. I play a card and draw to replace, then my opponent plays TAKE BACK THIS EVIL DAY. I'm supposed to take the card I played back to my hand... but what do I do with the one I just drew?

A. Put it back on top of the deck. This would be the same as what happens when KNIGHTMARE (or THINK AGAIN! or CHAOS) causes a card to be undone.

Q. If one player uses CHARGE, MERCILESS, or CRUSADE to sweep down to the opponent's side of the board and then back out again, is the opponent allowed to exact a TOLL?

A. CHARGE et al. result in two Moves (using the second definition of Move) within one Move (using the first definition). TOLL would be legal, yes.

Q. Can you use CHARGE, CRUSADE or MERCILESS to take your opponents king?

A. No. By an extension of the Checkmate Rule, you can't use any regular card to capture the opponent's King (if that would end the game — if he has multiple Kings, for instance, it's okay to capture one of them with a card).

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

A. Right.

Q. What happens to continuing effects on pieces that are subsequently CONFABULATED? What if the CONFABULATION is later removed by PEACE TALKS?

A. The continuing effect applies to the whole CONFABULATION. The exception: if the continuing effect resulted in a different, named piece (notably CRAB), it continues to apply only to that portion of the CONFABULATION. After PEACE TALKS, any continuing effects will act as they did prior to CONFABULATION.

Q. If the CONFABULATED piece had PACIFISM (or NEUTRALITY... or both) on it, and the CONFABULATION was removed by PEACE TALKS, do one, both, or neither remain PACIFIED (or NEUTRAL)?

A. Neither. PACIFISM (or whatever) was played on the CONFABULATED piece, and has nothing to affect once CONFABULATION is gone. On the other hand, if PACIFISM had been played on a piece which was subsequently CONFABULATED, the CONFABULATION would be affected by PACIFISM, and if the CONFABULATION was PEACE TALKED away, the original target of PACIFISM would still be PACIFIED. [The distinction exists because when CONFABULATION is undone there is a piece that is clearly gone. When CONFABULATION comes into play, there are two pieces that merge, and are not so clearly gone.]

Q. I've played CONFABULATION to merge two Pawns. If I play ANNEXATION, can I move this piece twice, or once and move another Pawn, or once only? Does it move forward two squares if I play ONSLAUGHT?

A. It is only one piece, so it can be moved once (along with a separate pawn) with ANNEXATION, and it moves forward one square (if possible) with ONSLAUGHT.

Q. Can you COUP a CONFABULATED piece?

A. If the CONFABULATED piece includes a Rook or a Queen, definitely not. Otherwise, yes, you can. Note that if the CONFABULATION is ended, the COUP will also be removed, and your Prince will become King again. (If the Prince has been captured, then the CONFABULATION and the COUP are immune to PEACE TALKS.)

Q. If I have a CONFABULATED piece in play and the Continuing Effect is cancelled, what happens to the piece?

A. The solution for this is on PEACE TALKS and COUNTERSPELL (the cards that can cancel Continuing Effects). "If any piece is left in an illegal situation [such as sharing a square with another piece], its owner must correct the problem on his next move of that piece is considered captured." If one piece is captured because of this, the other is no longer in an illegal situation, so it remains. The owner decides what order to check the pieces, so he effectively may choose which piece stays.

Q. Can Transformed Pieces CONFABULATE with other pieces?

A. Yes.

Q. I play a card (such as CRACK OF DOOM) to escape checkmate. My opponent plays COUNTERSPELL, thus putting me into checkmate again. Does that violate the Checkmate Rule, even though I was already in checkmate?

A. Playing COUNTERSPELL to cause that violates the Checkmate Rule.

Q. Suppose in a game there are multiple Continuing Effects in play, including COUP on Black's Knight. If Black's King was captured, can either player play COUNTERSPELL? Would it just ignore COUP, since cancelling it would break the Checkmate Rule?

A. COUNTERSPELL would have no effect. COUNTERSPELL removes all Continuing Effects in play, as per the text of the card. If Black's King was captured, then COUP may not be cancelled or removed, as that would violate the Checkmate Rule. Playing COUNTERSPELL in this situation would violate the Checkmate Rule, so it has no effect.

Q. I play PEACE TALKS. My opponent then plays HAUNTING MEMORIES on PEACE TALKS. If I now play another HAUNTING MEMORIES (or COUNTERTHRUST) on the HAUNTING MEMORIES he played, which card does it duplicate?

A. It duplicates your HAUNTING MEMORIES, having the same effect as a third PEACE TALKS.

Q. My opponent plays HEIR, giving him his second King. I then play HAUNTING MEMORIES, give me my second King. He then attempts to play CONTERTHRUST, giving him a third King. Wouldn't this be (while clever) illegal?

A. His COUNTERTHRUST would be illegal, for two reasons:

a) In the sequence given above, his King's starting square wouldn't be unoccupied, since his first HEIR would currently be sitting there.

b) The restriction on HAUNTING MEMORIES that it cannot duplicate a unique card from your deck does indeed mean that even if he had moved the HEIR, he couldn't get a second HEIR.

Q. If I play COUP on my Pawn, can it still be promoted?

A. Yes. If it promotes to a Rook or Queen, COUP is suspended until it is no longer a Rook or Queen.

Q. Does FIREBALL affect a Prince (COUP)?

A. No. Since FIREBALL cannot affect or be triggered by Kings, a Prince is immune to FIREBALL and may not be used to trigger one.

Q. My opponent played a PALADIN on a Knight, then played COUP on the PALADIN, and then played WARLORD on the PALADIN/King. Trying to checkmate a PALADIN/WARLORD/King is very difficult, if not impossible. Were any rules broken, or is this all legal?

A. Rules were broken. PALADIN on the Knight is legal, creating a Paladin. COUP on the Paladin is legal, and COUP and PALADIN conflict ("moves by ...." and "keeps its standard move"); PALADIN loses to the more recent COUP and the King has a Knight's move. WARLORD on the new King is legal, and the move specified by WARLORD is in effect — the King can no longer move like a Knight.

Q. Can you play COUP on a NEUTRAL or PACIFIST piece? My best guess is that you can, but that NEUTRALITY and/or PACIFISM would be suspended, since neither can be played on a King.

A. Right.

Q. This would mean that you cannot COUP a NEUTRAL piece of the opposite color, because suspending NEUTRALITY would mean your King just surrendered, right?

A. Since COUP is a Continuing Effect, the Checkmate Rule does not apply. You can indeed surrender your King this way, but it's not a good idea.

Q. If COUP makes a Pawn into a King, can it promote? It seems OK to become a Knight or Bishop, but maybe not a Rook or Queen because of the text on the COUP card.

A. It can promote to any piece, but if it promotes to a Rook or Queen, COUP is suspended (and the previously suspended PACIFISM and NEUTRALITY would kick back in for a Rook, just PACIFISM for a Queen).

Q. If I COUP a Bishop, can I use a card which effects a Bishop, or can I not because it is a King?

A. If you use COUP to change your King to a Bishop, cards which don't remove the Bishop from play are legal. It is legal to change the Bishop to another piece (say a Knight). Any card which cannot be played on a King cannot be played on a piece transformed with COUP.

(You cannot violate the conditions of COUP however, changing the Bishop to a Queen for instance would cancel COUP and remove it from play. And remember if the Prince has been captured, COUP can not be cancelled at all; this would be a violation of the Checkmate Rule which is never allowed during the game).

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. Can another piece under COUP be promoted by LEGION OF HONOR to a Rook or Queen?

A. Yes. COUP will be suspended until it is no longer a Rook or Queen.

Q. Can a CRAB make two diagonal moves as its opening move? Make captures en passant?

A. No, the only part of the Pawn's special movement abilities it retains is promotion.

Q. CRACK OF DOOM is to be played at the end of my move, thus given the full duration of my turn to eliminate the checkmate, it seemed logical to me that blocking the path of the checking piece would work.

A. Exactly.

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. My opponent's Queen is CURSED. He establishes HOLY GROUND near her. His question: if his Queen begins her turn on HOLY GROUND, and she can choose her regular move (two squares) or to move as a Bishop, is her Bishop-like movement restricted to two squares?

A. Yes.

Q. Suppose a Queen is both CURSED and an AMAZON. Does CURSE prevent her from making a Knight-like move at all, or does it let her make a "partial" jumping move two squares away, or does it not affect her at all?

A. Knight-like moves are unaffected by CURSE. Her diagonal move is still affected.

Q. What this comes down to is the exact interpretation of the second sentence on CURSE: "This piece can only move one or two squares at a time". Does this mean "one or two squares displaced from the piece's current position" (counted orthogonally or diagonally?), or to "jumping", "swapping" and other nonstandard moves only count as "moving one square" since it doesn't pass through any other squares on the way? Likewise, under what conditions could you play BLACK WIDOW if one queen or the other (or both) were affected by CURSE?

A. Swaps are likewise unaffected by CURSE. CURSE could indeed be worded better, but it restricts a piece moving diagonally or orthogonally to a distance of no more than 2 squares. Moves that are not diagonal or orthogonal are unaffected (but a hypothetical jumping move that was restricted to a diagonal or orthogonal direction would be limited to 2 squares as well).