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

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 Pawn be promoted? If so, is the promoted piece still PACIFIST?

A. Yes and yes.

Q. Can a PACIFIST Pawn capture by using IRRESISTIBLE FORCE?

A. A PACIFIST may use IRRESTIBLE FORCE, but not if it would result in a capture. It is also immune from being pushed off of the board.

Q. Can EVIL EYE be used by PACIFISTS? By pieces held in place by FATAL ATTRACTION?

A. No. Capture is not threatened, so EVIL EYE may not be played.

Q. Does a MYSTIC SHIELDED piece set off a MAN-TRAP? A NEUTRAL one? A PACIFIST?

A. MYSTIC SHIELD only protects a piece on the turn after it moves -- so if it landed on the MAN-TRAP, it would be captured before the next turn. A NEUTRAL piece has no inherent protection from being captured, and is affected by cards which affect enemy pieces, so it would also be captured byt the MAN-TRAP. A PACIFIST is immune from capture, and thus from the MAN-TRAP. Like a King, it also would not set off the MAN-TRAP.

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. 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. Can a piece with PASIFISM played on it still put a King in check?

A. No, a piece under the effects of PACIFISM cannot threaten capture, so it cannot put the opposing King in check.

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. 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. White spends his first two moves moving his Knight, then Black moves a piece, such as a Knight or a side Pawn. White then moves his Knight again into position and plays PALADIN. Now he is in a position where the Black's King is in checkmate, because it is surrounded by his own pieces. Is that allowable?

A. Yes. If Black hasn't moved any of the pieces around him, he might be put in checkmate by this method (or he might have a card that lets him escape anyway).

Note that the Checkmate Rule applies only to regular cards, not to Continuing Effect cards such as PALADIN.

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. If a PALADIN finishes its first of two jumps on a SEAT OF POWER (or HOLY GROUND), may it then, on its second jump, move like a Queen (or Bishop)?

A. No. SEAT OF POWER affects moves, not jumps. But, for instance, a Rook that had moved onto the SEAT OF POWER and then had MERCILESS played on it could make its second move as a Queen.

Q. Can SPLIT KNIGHT be played on a PALADIN?

A. SPLIT KNIGHT can be played on a PALADIN, this is definitely a legal play. These combinations of cards can be quite devastating; don't be surprised when your opponent cancels the card or your move...

Q. If I play PANIC, can my opponent make a move quickly and then take his time to decide which "after move" card to play?

A. No. His entire turn must be completed within 15 seconds (first definition of Move in the glossary).

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. 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. 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. Can VULTURE pick up continuing effect cards?

A. Yes. It is still "in play" (use a proxy) and can be PEACE TALKED or whatever, but it is also in the hand of the player who used VULTURE.

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. 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. White moves a NEUTRALIZED White Rook so that it checks Black and then plays PEACE TALKS to remove NEUTRALITY from the White Rook, making the situation checkmate. Is this disallowed by the Checkmate Rule because PEACE TALKS is a "regular" card?

A. Yes.

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. If HEIR is removed by PEACE TALKS, who decides which King to remove?

A. HEIR cannot be removed from play in this method; it is not a continuing effect card. The only legal way to remove HEIR is to cancel the card as it is played via FOG OF WAR.

Q. If PHALANX is in play, and I play DARK MIRROR, can I capture a piece directly behind my Pawn instead?

A. No. PHALANX does not change the instructions of DARK MIRROR.

Q. PLAGUE states "Any piece which shares the same square will also become diseased." I don't understand the sentence or the the significance of its italics.

A. There are other cards which will allow the pieces to be in the same square without a capture, so this sentence makes them diseased. The word "same" is italicized just because this is an unusual occurrance.

Q. What can I do with PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS?

A. You can play 2 "before-move" cards, then make a normal chess move.
You can play a "before-move" card and a "replace-move" card.
You can play 2 "replace-move" cards.
You can make a normal chess move, then play 2 "after-move" cards.

You cannot play a "replace-move" card and an "after-move" card, because the "after-move" card is not legal to play at the moment Plot Within Plots is played.

On your opponents' turn, you can play 2 "after-opponent's-move" cards, 2 "after-opponent's-card-play" cards, or (if he played a "replace-move" card) one of each.

Q. If I play PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS and I move one (or two with a swap card) of my opponent's pieces does that count as a moved piece that I can FIREBALL?

A. FIREBALL will explode the piece you moved before playing PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS. That is the move which you are using to meet the "play after move" condition of the card.

Q. What happens if my opponent plays FOG OF WAR against my PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS?

A. He can cancel your PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS before you play your additional two cards, or he can cancel either of the subsequent cards. This is not a game of speed, however, so if you do not pause between playing PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS and the additional cards, your opponent can ask you to back up in order to cancel the PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS card.

Q. FOG OF WAR can be played against any of the 3 cards in a PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS trio. If it is played against the second card, is your opponent commited to playing the same third one?

A. Yes.

Q. If I have PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS and two FOG OF WAR cards in my hand, could I play PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS and then the two FOG OF WAR to stop both cards my opponent plays with their own PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS?

A. Yes, that sounds legal.

Q. Using PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS, I play BRIBERY and then RESURRECTION. My opponent then plays FOG OF WAR on my BRIBERY. Can she do that, or does FOG OF WAR affect PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS?

A. She can FOG OF WAR your PLOTS WITHIN PLOTS before you play the other two cards, or she can FOG OF WAR either of the other two cards after you play them.

Q. If she plays FOG OF WAR on my BRIBERY, do I get to move again (this time without using a card)?

A. Yes.

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. 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. Can RESURRECTION bring back a PRINCESS?

A. No. There is no space it could have occupied at the beginning of the game.

Q. Is a PRINCESS "based on" a Queen?

A. No. It is not affected by cards that only affect Queens, and exclusions that name Queens do not necessarily exclude PRINCESSES.

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.