WORLD

Card Wars is another way for fans to immerse themselves in the lore of AWD, competing against one another with turn-based strategy in the tradition of the many popular card-battling games. There are 700 cards in the first complete set, "End of Innocence", all falling into four different categories - Character Cards (325), Action Cards (290), Special Cards (65), and Wild Cards (20). Each card will feature high quality official AWD artwork with a gloss finish on thick card stock, making them collectors' items as well as game pieces.


Set Up

Games are played on an X by X square tiled board (usually 6 x 6) with as many as six participants. Games can be played all players for themselves, or in even numbered teams. At the start of the game, the players must agree on the "Deck Quota" (DQ) -the point total for all cards in decks to be used. Every card has a certain value corresponding to how many “Action Points” (AP) are required to put the card into play, or to use the card while it is in play.

At the start of the game, players place cards on the board one at a time, in the order determined by the dice roll. Every game has a "Deck Quota", and the action point total for all the cards in a player's deck must equal or fall below that amount. Every game alos has an "Action Point Quota", and the action points of all the cards placed by a player must equal or fall below that amount. Cards are usually placed face-down, the exception being if the "Face-Up" rule is in play. Once all players have placed their cards, the cards are turned face-up, unless they are trap cards, which remain face-down until a character card is placed on the same square.


Character Cards

Character cards are the most important in the game; they occupy tiles on the game board and a player must have at least one in play at the end of a round to remain in the game.

  • AP - Action Points - the amount of action points required to play a card and how many stock points they take up in a player’s deck

  • HP - Hit Points - Determines how much damage the card can take

  • Attack - Determines how much damage a card can inflict

  • Defense - Determines card's resistance to enemy damage

  • Range - Represents how many tiles away a card can attack

  • Ally Bonus - Enhancement granted to adjacent ally cards

  • Talent - Unique skill

  • Class - Every card is categorized into one of 5 classes: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Etherium. Attributes and statistics are different for the character with each class of card. Illustrations also vary from class to class with each character. Bronze cards are the weakest, Etherium cards are the strongest. The stronger the card, the more action points it requires to be played.

Action Cards

Action Cards of a given class may only be used if the character to whom they apply is present on the game board, and if its class is the same or higher than that of the action card. Action Cards do not occupy squares, and are discarded after being used.
  • Field of Effect - how many tiles are affected simultaneously


Special Cards

Special Cards also do not occupy squares, and are placed outside the game board when put into play. The exception is trap cards, which are placed face down on a tile, and have a variety of effects on character cards placed on top of them. These cards can be very crucial to the game, but also require a large number of action points. Special cards with classes, such as traps, can only affect character cards of the same or lower class.


Wild Cards

Wild Cards can be character cards, action cards, or special cards; the difference is that they may not be placed in player’s stock pile. Up to 3 of them are placed on random tiles, and activated when player cards are placed adjacent to them. Wild character cards automatically attack all characters on attacking sides and within range at the end of every round.


Allies and Enemies

Some cards may have a color designation. Cards with the same color are allies and cannot attack each other, even if they are on opposing sides. For example, Charles and Raine are in different factions, and therefore may be on opposing sides, but as brother and sister, there is no way that they’d fight one another. They have the same color designation to represent this fact.


Game Flow

The game is played in rounds. Players go one after another in the order determined by a dice roll - highest roll first to lowest roll last. On their turn, each player gets to as many actions as possible with the specified action point quota. Actions include putting a card into play on the game board, attacking or defending with a character card, using an action card, or using a special card. Regardless of the per-round action point quota, a character card may only act once per round. Each character card may only act once, i.e. attack or use a special technique; this does not include the auto-attack as a card is put into play.


Putting Cards into Play

Once the game has begun, a player may spend action points on his/her turn to place another card from their deck onto the game board. Putting a card into play requires the amount of action points listed on the card. Also, any card to be played that will occupy a spot on the board must be adjacent (i.e. 1 tile away in any of the eight directions) to another card already in play, except during the initial placement.


Character cards hold squares on the board, and are capable of attacking, defending, or enabling the use of action cards corresponding to that character. Action cards may only be put into play if the associated character card is already in play, and can only be used once per game. Special cards have no prerequisites, but usually require a large amount of action points. The combined point value for a player’s character cards on the game board cannot ever exceed the action point quota.


Attack Mode & Defense Mode

There are two different ways a character card may be put into play, “Attack Mode”, and “Defense Mode”. Cards played in attack mode automatically attack one adjacent (immediately left, right, up, or down) opposing card; the opposing card must be adjacent to an “attacking side”. Cards played in defense mode remain in defense mode for the duration of the round (See Defending below).


Attacking

Once in play, character cards may attack opposing cards. A few things must be taken into consideration when attacking. First, there are eight possible directions in which an attack can be executed - up, diagonal up-left, left, diagonal left-down, down, diagonal down-right, right, and diagonal right-up. Outward pointing arrows on the sides and corners of each card designate which directions it may attack. These sides (and corners) are known as “attacking sides”, while those without arrows are known as “benign sides”. Generally, the stronger the character card, the more attacking sides it will have.


Next to consider is the Range of the attacking card. The range refers to how many tiles away the opposing card can be and still be attacked. Most cards have a range of 1, meaning that they may only attack adjacent opposing cards. If an opposing card lay in between the character card and its target card, then one die must be rolled to determine whether or not the attack was successful. A roll of 1 means that the attack missed. A roll of 2, 3, 4, or 5 means the attack was successful. A roll of 6 means that the attack hit the obstructing card instead of the target.


Counter Attacks

If a character card attacks an opposing card from its own “attacking side”, i.e. two attack arrows face one another, the opposing card automatically counter attacks. This applies to the automatic attack executed by playing a card in attack mode as well. Therefore it is important for players to use caution when placing a character card or attacking. A card played in defense mode does not get attacked by an opposing card with an adjacent attacking side. Counters are responses to attacks only. Lastly, ranged attacks can only be countered if the attacked card has the required range AND an attacking arrow facing that direction.


Chain Attacks

If two of a player’s cards attack the same enemy card in succession, it is called a chain attack. The second card’s attack damage increases by 10%. If three cards attack the same enemy in succession, the third card’s attack increases by 20%. A fourth card’s attack (maximum chain) would increase by 30%. If the defending card is able to counter attack any of the attacks, the chain is broken.


Defending

For a certain amount of action points (usually half the card’s point value), a card may be flipped over and placed in “defense mode”, which means that it takes half damage from all attacks until the player’s next turn. A character card may not perform any action while in defense mode, and must remain in defense mode for the duration of the round. Some characters may have special talents such as “Perfect Guard” which means they take no damage while in defense mode, or “Counter All” which means they counter any attacks, provided they’re within range, even if a benign side is facing the attacking card. Cards with special defend abilities will require more action points to put into defense mode. The player must declare defense mode each round, spending the required action points, in order to maintain the defensive posture.


Battle Tech

Character cards in play may also use a special move known as Battle Tech, using an action card, such as a magic spell or a special weapon skill. Battle Tech can attack or hinder opposing cards, heal or support ally cards. Technique cards have a Range value and a Field of Effect value, which refers to how many squares the card can effect simultaneously. While techniques do consider range, they do not require any directional consideration.


Calculating Damage

Regular attack Damage is calculated by subtracting the target card's defense from the attacking card's attack value. Attack or Defense modifiers, resulting from action or special cards need to be considered before calculating damage. Action cards, such as techniques, also have an attack value. This value corresponds to the damage done, without consideration of the opposing card’s defense. Some character cards and action card support abilities, however, may reduce damage. The term “damage” also refers to the amount of HP restored to a character card when a healing technique is used. Character card skills or action cards that reduce technique attack damage also equally reduce healing card effects.


Damage Tokens

As a character card takes damage, special tokens are placed on top of it. These tokens come in values of 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100.


Incapacitation

When the total amount of damage equals or exceeds the character’s HP, they are "incapacitated", and must be removed from the playing field, unless a special talent, such as "Will Power" or "Desperation Blow" enables revival or a special final move. Some action cards, such as Jessica’s “Revitalize”, also restore character cards and allow them to be returned to the game board.


Defeat

A player is defeated when they no longer have any character cards in play on the game board. This is important to note when considering a play strategy, because a player can have character cards remaining in their deck and still be defeated if all of their character cards in play have been incapacitated. This means players must be wise in deciding when to use their action points for cards already in play, and when to use them to place new character cards on the board.


Scoring
  • Defeating Character Cards - players receive points equal to a character card’s point value if they deliver the incapacitating attack. Defeated cards should be held aside by the player to be tallied at the end of the game.

  • Defeating Opposing Players - players receive 50 points for completely removing another player from the game, i.e. leaving them with no character cards to put into play. This adds yet another element of strategy in that a player may want to withhold from dropping another player to their last card if they are unable to finish them, since the next player may do so and receive the bonus; conversely, there is a risk that the next player will have the ability to finish them anyway, AND the risk that mercy will backfire if the spared player executes a powerful move on their next turn.


Winning the Game

The game ends when only one player or team of players has character cards in play. There are two primary victory conditions; which one is employed is decided upon mutually by the players. If players cannot agree, then the decision may be made by a dice roll.
  • Clear Victory - One player or team of players defeats all other players or teams, as described above.

  • Point Victory - At the end of the game, the point value for all defeated cards is tallied by each player. The player with the most points wins, even if the game ended by their cards being cleared.

There are additional victory conditions which may be decided upon at the start of the game by the players. An example would be a story scenario condition which requires one player or team to defeat certain cards in a specified number of turns.