If any Ground Unit or Character occupies this card — whether placed here by deployment or by movement — the controller of that unit gains the listed benefits or penalties. Because deployment to permanents you do not control is restricted (§10.5), Occupation on an opposing card is reached almost entirely by movement (§14).
A Capital Ship with Orbital Bombardment may attack Planetary Locations, Surface Locations, Characters, and Ground Units in its own or an adjacent Band. When attacking any of these targets, the card's Orbital Bombardment value replaces all other Attack values for that attack. Orbital Bombardment damage is treated as standard Attack damage to the target.
Orbital Bombardment is offense only. It does not permit the card to intercept.
Twist marks a card with a flip mechanic. The card's text specifies the trigger condition (state-based, storyline-keyed, or other) and any payment cost. Some Twists are mandatory (flip automatically when the trigger fires); others give the controller the option to flip by paying a cost.
Examples:
Storyline-completion with cost (optional): "Twist: When a storyline completes, you may pay 2 CP total from any number of permanents you control or 1 SP. If you do, flip this card."
State-triggered (mandatory): "Twist: When Emberate Captain Durnen is deployed to this card, flip it."
Card-type-change Twist. Some Twist effects flip a card to a different card type (e.g., a Spacecraft flipping to a Character, or a Ground Unit flipping to a Character). In such cases:
The flipped card uses all printed values on its current face (Attack, Defense, Rank, Vote, Drives, Morality, Penalties, abilities, starting CP).
The card's Location occupancy is preserved — it remains at the same Location, Spacecraft, or position on the map as before the flip.
Activation state is preserved — if the card was activated before the flip, it remains activated after.
A card flip does not mean the card enters the Map (as if it were played from a player's hand). Activation state and any existing counters (besides CP and Liberation counters) are preserved. Any time a card flips all Liberation counters are removed.
CP starts at the printed starting CP value of the new face. It does not carry over accumulated CP from the prior face.
Triggers that fire "when this card flips to this face" fire after the flip resolves. Triggers that fire "when this card enters the map" do NOT fire on a flip (the card did not enter the map; it was already there).
Twist on Characters. A Twist may appear on a Character, not only on Spacecraft and Ground Units. A Character with a printed Twist flips Prime<->Fallen when its printed condition is met, independently of and in addition to the standard "flip to Fallen at 0 CP" rule (§8). A Twist worded "you may flip this card" is optional; a mandatory trigger is not. Example: Sister Mira of the Quiet Hand (optional Prime->Fallen Twist when an opposing Character is destroyed at her Location).
A Maneuver with a Policy Restriction lists a Galactic Factor and a target zone (or zones). If the listed Galactic Factor is currently within the target zone, the Maneuver plays at base cost. If not, the listed penalty cost is paid in addition to the base cost.
This card may deploy to a Planetary Location or Capital Ship the controller controls when its host Spacecraft is destroyed. If no valid Planetary Location or Spacecraft exists, the card is destroyed (sent to its owner's Depleted pile). Characters automatically have the Escape Pod ability. Ground Units must have the Escape Pod keyword printed on the card to use it.
A type category encompassing Characters, Planetary Locations, Homeworlds, and Storylines. Non-Narrative permanents include Surface Locations, Spacecraft, Ground Units, and Devices. Cards may reference Narrative or non-Narrative permanents in their effects.
A type designation that may appear on Character, Ground Unit, or Spacecraft cards (e.g., 'Zealot Rebel' on the secondary type line). Cards that reference rebel status (e.g., 'If the acting Character is a Rebel') check for this designation on the card's current face.
Partner is an asymmetric keyword printed on the initiator card only.
Establishing Partnership. A card with the Partner keyword activates and targets another Character to establish a partnership. The initiator and target both become 'partnered.' The initiator's activation persists — during the initiator's controller's Ready Phase, the controller may choose not to ready the initiator in order to maintain the partnership.
Ending Partnership. A partnership ends when any of the following occurs:
The target Character flips or leaves play.
The initiator flips.
The initiator leaves play.
The initiator is readied by its controller (voluntarily during the Ready Phase) or by any other card or mechanic.
The initiator loses the Partner keyword (e.g., flips to a face without it).
Un-partnered Penalty. If the initiator becomes un-partnered for any reason while it would otherwise remain in play, the initiator flips to its Fallen face.
Triggers and States. Cards may print "If this card is partnered..." triggers as recipients of partnership. Such triggers fire at the moment the partnership begins (a one-time event), unless the printed text specifies an ongoing condition.
Targeting. Unless the card text restricts otherwise, Partner can target a Character controlled by any player, including an opponent. This allows Partner to function as a soft-flip tool against opposing Characters.
If this card is destroyed in combat, the controller of the card that dealt lethal damage must pay 1 CP or 3C. If this card attacks, it loses the War Crime ability until the end of turn.
Civilians and War Crime. Civilian-subtype Ground Units and Characters automatically carry War Crime. Civilians may have Attack values greater than zero and may be used defensively in combat. If a card with War Crime attacks, it loses the War Crime ability until end of turn. A Civilian that attacks therefore forfeits its protected status for the remainder of the turn; killing it during that turn imposes no War Crime cost on the attacker.
This rule applies to every card with the War Crime keyword regardless of whether the full ability text is printed inline. On most Civilian printings, the keyword alone appears in card body text and the full text resolves through this section.
A conditional bonus keyed to a Galactic Factor zone. The card text specifies the GF, the zone, and the bonus (e.g., "Influence: If the RLGN is -3 or -4, this card gains +1 Rank"). The bonus is active for as long as the GF remains in the specified zone.
During the controlling player's Action Phase, the controller may target a card in their Depleted Pile with the Rebuild ability. If they do they pay the rebuild cost to return that card from their Depleted Pile to their hand.
A Fallen face's flip-back clause. The text on the Fallen face specifies a condition (e.g., "When you complete any Redemption or Justice storyline") that, if met, flips the card back to its Prime face. Some Redeem clauses include additional effects (SP awards, CP gains) that apply at the moment of flip-back.
Not all Fallen faces have a Redeem clause; falls without one are permanent.
Standard Redeem text. Most Fallen faces of recoverable Characters use the standard wording: "Redeem: When you complete any Redemption, Connection, or Justice Storyline, flip this card. +1 SP." This phrasing is the canonical default; deviations are deliberate. Some Redeem clauses substitute different Storyline drives, omit the SP award, or add specific costs.
Truncation. A Redeem or Selfless Sacrifice clause may be printed in shortened form showing only the reward (e.g., "Redeem: +1 SP" or "Selfless Sacrifice: +1 SP"); the standard trigger condition above is implied. A reward must always be printed — the keyword may not appear bare with no reward.
A Fallen face exit clause for Characters whose moral fall is too complete to be redeemed but whose narrative thread can be retired. Standard Selfless Sacrifice text:"Selfless Sacrifice: When you complete any Redemption, Connection, or Justice Storyline you may place this card in the Depleted Pile. +1 SP." The card leaves the game (it does not return to Prime); the player retains the SP award.
Selfless Sacrifice is the typical exit clause for Fallen Iniquitous Characters and other irrecoverable falls (e.g., Vey, Pattern Discontinued; Dain Tarrek, Frontier Sovereign; Orion Vex, Corporate Owned). Characters whose Prime face was already Expedient or whose Fallen face retains a Justice or Connection drive typically receive the standard Redeem clause instead.
A Fallen face may have neither Redeem nor Selfless Sacrifice — a permanent fall with no exit. This is reserved for Characters whose transformation is deliberately presented as final (e.g., Thea Vorn, The Reformer, whose virtuous reform from an Expedient Prime is intended to be irreversible; Sera Lin, Truthsayer, whose released truth cannot be untold).
Keywords: Stealth, Partner, Redeem, Twist, Bind, Long Range, Escape Pod, Orbital Bombardment, Blockade, Ground Cover, Occupation, Influence, Political Neutrality, War Crime, Sell, Attach, Drone, and all other named keyword abilities
States: Prime, Fallen, Contested, Completed
Resources and stats: Currency, CP, SP, Vote, RK, ATK, DEF, OB
Zones: Map (when referring to the play zone), Depleted Pile, Burned Pile
Common functional words (you, the, target, gain, pay, may, etc.) remain lowercase. GDD body text (this document) and card titles may use different conventions; the rule above applies only to body rules text on cards.
The type line is ordered: [Prime/Fallen] [Faction] [Race] [Type] [Subtype] [Name]. The Race field is shown only when non-human (Syntient); human is the default and is omitted. On secession the Faction word and crest swap on the Fallen face only (Concord / Emberate / Pale Veil); the card remains its printed Faction for deckbuilding (§17.5, §18.39). Examples: "Union Syntient Civilian Nexus-7" (Prime) / "Fallen Concord Syntient Civilian Nexus-7" (Fallen); "Zealot Soldier Callen Gohs"; "Fallen Emberate Soldier Rebel Kaela Durnen".
18.23 Implicit Defaults for CP, SP, and Cost Notation#
Unless otherwise stated in card text:
"Add X CP" or "+X CP" means "Add X CP to this card."
"Gain X CP" means "Add X CP to this card."
"Add X SP" or "+X SP" or "Gain X SP" means "Add X SP to the controlling player's SP pool."
Effects that redirect to other targets must explicitly say so: "Add 1 SP to target player's SP pool," "Add 1 CP to target Character."
Cost notation. Two payment conventions distinguish source of payment:
"Pay X CP" means the controller may pay X CP from any CP source the controller controls — the activating card itself, any other card the controller controls, or any combination summing to X. CP is fungible across the controller's permanents for this cost.
"−X CP" means pay X CP from the specific card that bears the ability. This is a self-cost; the activating card itself must pay the full amount or the ability cannot be activated.
The same convention applies to Currency: "Pay X Currency" draws from the controller's Treasury (the only Currency source); "−X Currency" notation is not currently in use because Currency does not live on individual cards.
This distinction matters in practice: a card with "Activate, −1 CP" becomes unable to activate when its own CP reaches zero, while a card with "Activate, Pay 1 CP" may continue activating as long as the controller has any CP source elsewhere.
Prime is the type-line label for the front (default) face of any flippable card. It is the opposite of Fallen (for Characters and other permanents), Contested (for Locations and Homeworlds), and Completed (for Storylines).
Type-line examples:
Character - Prime Zealot ↔ Character - Fallen Zealot
Surface Location - Prime Zealot ↔ Surface Location - Contested
Storyline - Prime ↔ Storyline - Completed
Spacecraft - Prime Zealot Capital Ship ↔ Spacecraft - Zealot Rebel Capital Ship
A card becomes Prime whenever its visible face changes to its Prime face, regardless of cause (Redeem clause flip-back, owner re-purchase of a Contested Location per §13.2, owner combat-destruction of a Contested Location per §11.7, or any other effect that flips the card back to its Prime face). Triggers keyed to "becomes Prime" fire on any such transition, mirroring "becomes Contested" and "becomes Fallen" triggers in §19.2.
The 8-permanent Lose condition (§16) continues to key on explicit "Contested" or "Fallen" type-line labels. A card in its Prime state, or flipped to a Completed or other non-Contested / non-Fallen face, does not count.
The Map is the primary play zone — the canonical game term for the board. Permanents currently in play are "on the Map." Cards in hand, deck, Depleted pile, or Burned pile are not on the map.
Triggers keyed to "enters the Map" fire when a permanent transitions from another zone into play. Triggers keyed to "leaves the Map" fire when a permanent transitions from play to another zone (Depleted pile, Burned pile, hand, etc.). A card flip does not constitute "entering the Map" — the card was already on the Map and remains there in its new face.
Storylines, Devices, and other permanent types count as being on the map; "enters the Map" triggers can fire when these are played.
A Drone is a token permanent created by a card or ability. Drones are not deck cards; they exist only when created by an effect.
Rules:
A card or ability creating a Drone must explicitly state the Drone's stats. At minimum, every Drone must have ATK, DEF, and RK printed.
Drones do not inherit any abilities from cards they share a name with, unless the creating effect specifically grants them. A Drone is a fresh permanent with only the stats and abilities printed in the creation text.
Drones are sent to the Burned Pile when destroyed (§18.27). They do not flip, cannot be Redeemed, and cannot be returned to the map.
Drones count as permanents for all other purposes (combat, Liberation, targeting, etc.) unless specifically excluded.
The Burned Pile is a zone for cards and tokens removed from the game entirely. Cards in the Burned Pile cannot be returned to hand, deck, or play by any effect.
Cards or tokens go to the Burned Pile when:
A Drone is destroyed (§18.26).
A card effect specifies "burn it" or "send to the Burned Pile."
Cards going to the Burned Pile still trigger destruction-keyed effects (e.g., War Crime, "when a Character is destroyed") at the moment of destruction. The Burned Pile is a destination, not a substitute for destruction — the destruction event happens, and then the card is routed to Burned instead of Depleted.
Attach is an ability of Devices that allows the Device to be associated with another permanent in play, granting that permanent abilities or stat modifications.
Rules:
1. Attach is an ability of Devices, allowing the Device to be associated with another card in play.
2. When a Device enters play, it is unattached unless the Device's text specifically says it attaches on entry.
3. To attach a Device to a permanent, pay the Device's printed Attach cost. The card specifies the type of permanent it can attach to.
4. You may only attach a Device to a legal permanent you control. You cannot attach a Device to a card controlled by another player.
5. Place the Device on or adjacent to the card it is attached to.
6. If the host card is flipped or leaves play, the Device becomes unattached but remains in play. While unattached, abilities the Device grants to its host are inert.
7. Once a Device is attached, it can be unattached only by attaching it to another legal permanent (paying the Attach cost again).
8. Activated abilities granted by an attached Device are activated by the controller of the host card, not the controller of the Device. In practice, with the "you control" restriction in rule 4, these are always the same player.
Diplomatic Immunity is a printed movement keyword on Characters and select Civilian Ground Units. Text: "This card may move to a Spacecraft or Location you do not control."
Rules:
1. Diplomatic Immunity permits movement to permanents the controller does not control. It does not permit deployment from hand directly to enemy permanents unless the card specifically says so. (Unlisted, §18.30, is the corresponding deploy-and-move keyword for Ground Units.)
2. Diplomatic Immunity is movement-only. It is not protection. Once on an opponent's permanent, the unit is a normal target for combat, Maneuvers, and abilities — see §14.4 Rule 9.
3. Diplomatic Immunity carriers must obey all other movement constraints (Act-based restrictions, Spacecraft transit rules, etc.) except the controller restriction.
Unlisted is a printed deployment keyword on Ground Units and select Civilian cards. Text: "This card may be deployed to a Location or Spacecraft you do not control."
Rules:
Unlisted permits deployment to permanents the controller does not control. It is the deploy-side counterpart to Diplomatic Immunity (§18.29), which permits movement only.
Unlisted is the principal exception to §10.5. Without it, deployment is restricted to a Planetary Location or Capital Ship you control.
Unlisted is deployment-only. It is not protection. Once on an opponent's permanent, the card is a normal target for combat, Maneuvers, and abilities — see §14.10.
A card deployed by Unlisted to an opposing Location triggers that Location's Occupation effects (§18.2) and the intruder rules in §14.10.
Unlisted carriers obey all other deployment constraints. A card deployed by Unlisted Mobilizes as normal (§10.4).
Procedural Delay is a tax on Maneuver play that simulates parliamentary obstruction. Two forms exist:
Passive Procedural Delay N (Keyword form): While the bearer is in play, opposing players pay N additional Currency to play any Maneuver. The keyword activates after the first surcharge has been paid (i.e., opponents may "pay through" the delay; the delay does not stack multiple surcharges in a single turn).
Active Procedural Delay (Variant card text): "Until the beginning of your next turn, all Maneuvers cost an additional N Currency." The active form is symmetric — it taxes all players' Maneuvers including the controller's. This is intentional: slowing government procedure is expensive for everyone in the chamber.
Concordance is a conditional bonus keyed to the GOVT Galactic Factor being at +4 (full Liberal Democratic). Text format: "Concordance: If GOVT is +4, [bonus]."
Concordance is not the win condition (Galaxy Alignment, §15.1, requires all four GFs in the controller's preferred zones simultaneously and held for a full turn). Concordance fires whenever GOVT alone is +4, regardless of the other three Factors. It is primarily a Galatic Union keyword, the in-fiction equivalent of "we have a working majority."
Fortified is a defensive keyword on heavy Ground Units. Text: "If this card is deployed to a Location, prevent all combat damage dealt to that Location, and that Location may not be targeted for Liberation."
While a Fortified unit is deployed to a Location:
1. Combat damage to the Location itself (e.g., from Orbital Bombardment) is prevented entirely. The Fortified unit may still take damage; the Location does not.
2. The Location may not be targeted for Liberation (§12). Liberation attempts targeting that Location are illegal while a Fortified unit is deployed there.
3. The Fortified unit itself remains a normal target for combat, Liberation, Maneuvers, and abilities.
4. Removing the Fortified unit (destruction, displacement, sale) removes the protections.
A single Location may host only one Fortified unit. Subsequent Fortified units deployed to the same Location are inert with respect to the keyword.
Civilian is a faction-agnostic subtype that may appear on Characters and Ground Units. Civilian-subtype cards carry the following implicit rules unless their card text overrides:
1. Automatic War Crime. All Civilian-subtype cards carry the War Crime keyword (§18.17) regardless of whether the full text is printed inline.
2. Combat permitted but conditional. Civilians may have Attack values greater than zero and may attack. If a Civilian attacks, it loses War Crime until end of turn (§18.17). Civilians are therefore defensive ATK threats by default and aggressive losers of protection when used offensively.
3. Subtype loss on flip. If a Civilian card flips to a face that is not labeled Civilian (e.g., Hidden Ordnance flips a Civilian Trade Envoy into a Weapon-Tech device; Hardened Survivors flips a Civilian Refugee Convoy into a Soldier unit), the new face is not Civilian and does not carry War Crime. The protections are lost at the moment of flip.
Civilian is faction-agnostic: a card may be Civilian regardless of its faction label. Common Civilian-subtype lines include "Union Civilian," "Union Civilian Diplomat," and "Union Diplomat Civilian."
A sleeper card is a double-faced Ground Unit (or, rarely, other permanent type) whose Prime face is a disguised civilian asset and whose Fallen face is the revealed true form (a weapon, a hidden combatant, a political payoff). Sleeper cards flip via Rite of Credence (§18.36), not by reaching zero CP.
Variant printings: A sleeper card may have multiple variant printings that share an identical Prime face but carry different Fallen back faces. The variant chosen at deckbuild time determines the Fallen face's effect. Per §17.1, variant printings count as the same card for singleton purposes — a deck may include only one variant.
Current sleeper variant pairs:
Unlisted Trade Envoy — front: Civilian Diplomat with War Crime and Diplomatic Immunity. Variants: Hidden Ordnance (becomes a Tritium Device, attaches and detonates with FRNP/RLGN decrement) vs. Embedded Agent / Nelena Trade Delegation (becomes a Civilian Diplomat that, while occupying a Prime Location, gains that Location's Income and Vote abilities).
Le'Evalen Refugee Convoy — front: Civilian with War Crime and SP-on-civilian-death trigger. Variants: Sanctuary Petitioners (advances a Connection / Justice / Redemption Storyline by one chapter on reveal; gains +1 SP) vs. Evalen Raider Team (becomes a Fallen Soldier with ATK/CP gain on kill).
Rite of Credence is a bluffing-and-reveal mechanic for sleeper cards. It is the canonical flip trigger for double-faced Ground Units that are not Characters and therefore do not flip via zero-CP.
Card text: "Rite of Credence: During their Action Phase any player may target this card and declare 'Rite of Credence.' If the controller declared the Rite, they may flip this card. Otherwise, the controller must name a card. Any other player may then choose to flip this card; if they do and the named card matches the Fallen face, that player must pay 4 Currency. If the named card does not match the Fallen face, the controller must pay 4 Currency."
Resolution sequence:
1. During any player's Action Phase, that player may target a sleeper card in play that has Rite of Credence.
2. The targeting player declares "Rite of Credence."
3. If the controller of the targeted card is the declaring player, the controller may immediately flip the card to its Fallen face. (This is the consensual reveal — the controller chooses to play their sleeper.)
4. If the declaring player is not the controller, the controller must name a card by title. This may or may not be the actual Fallen face of the sleeper — the controller may truthfully name the back, may bluff, or may name a card they know the opponent does not expect.
5. After the controller names a card, any other player (not necessarily the declaring player) may choose to flip the sleeper to verify the claim:
If the named card matches the actual Fallen face, the verifying player pays 4 Currency to the supply (penalty for a false accusation). ```{=html} <!– –> ```
If the named card does not match the actual Fallen face, the controller pays 4 Currency to the supply (penalty for bluffing and being caught). The card is revealed regardless of outcome.
6. If no other player chooses to verify, the card remains face-down. The named card claim is not binding on future Rites, but other players may take the claim into account.
Information rules and Rite of Credence (cross-reference §17.8): The mechanic is playable because all card text is public information. A player who names a card their opponent has never heard of must, on request, describe the named card's printed text. This allows the opponent to evaluate the plausibility of the bluff and decide whether to call.
Observer counters and Rite: Effects that grant a player the ability to "look at the face-down side of any permanent in play" (e.g., the Sern Observer Field Team) can preempt Rite of Credence entirely by revealing the actual Fallen face to the looking player. This represents intelligence work — the Union learns what its neighbors are hiding through legitimate observation.
All special counters (counters that are not generic CP, SP, or Currency tokens) may be placed only on the card that creates them. A counter is bound to its source card. Cards that interact with counters on other cards do so by triggering, not by hosting — e.g., Seren Vael, Asset of Record's trigger "Whenever an Observer counter is placed on a Union Character, +1 CP" fires when the Observer counter lands on its source (Vesh, the Observer Field Team), not on Vael herself.
The currently defined counter types are:
Mark Counter. Created by IHN Longor Thime (Hegemony Verdict-class Destroyer). Increases Orbital Bombardment damage by an amount equal to the number of Mark counters on the source.
Sabotage Counter. Created by Vey, Free Mind Alliance Operative. Each Sabotage counter on Vey reduces the ATK, Vote, and Income of the permanent Vey is deployed to by 1.
Observer Counter. Created by Observer Corps Director Talia Vesh and the Sern Observer Field Team. Each Observer counter enables a single peek (top card of opponent's deck, top cards equal to counter count, etc.) per Draw Phase.
Bomb Counter. Created by the Tritium Device (revealed back face of Unlisted Trade Envoy / Hidden Ordnance variant). When a Tritium Device accumulates two or more Bomb counters during its controller's Admin Phase, the Device and the permanent it is attached to are destroyed; FRNP and RLGN each decrement by 1.
Counter sources, types, and effects are defined per-card; this section codifies that counters do not migrate.
When a card flips between its Prime and Fallen faces (for any reason — zero-CP destruction, Redeem, Twist, Rite of Credence, or a card effect that flips), all special counters persist on the card. CP, however, resets to the new face's printed Starting CP value; the Prime and Fallen faces are distinct CP wells.
SP is a player resource and is unaffected by card flips.
A Character whose Fallen face represents narrative defection from the controller's sovereignty to a different sovereignty displays the target sovereignty's allegiance crest on the Fallen face and uses the target sovereignty's subtype on the Fallen type line. The Prime face's crest and subtype are unchanged.
The current example is the Galatic Union → Free Mind Concord defection: Senior Minister Liora Thess (Prime: Union crest, blue Union frame; Fallen, Architect of Secession: Concord crest in blue with the open-palm-and-light motif, "Concord Official" subtype). The same convention applies to Vey, Pattern Discontinued and Nexus-7, The Broken.
This is a visual-grammar rule, not a mechanical one. The Character remains a Galatic Union card for deckbuilding and Faction restriction purposes (§17.5); only the in-fiction allegiance shifts.
Pale Veil (Hegemony secession allegiance)
Pale Veil is a Hegemony (Zealot) secession allegiance, distinct from the Emberate, with its own leadership and motives. Per the rule above, a Character whose Fallen face defects to the Pale Veil displays the Pale Veil crest on the Fallen face and uses Pale Veil subtypes on the Fallen type line (e.g., "Pale Veil Rebel"). This is visual grammar only: the card remains a Zealot/Hegemony card for deckbuilding and Faction restriction (§17.5). Pale Veil Fallen faces are Fallen permanents and count toward §16 like any other defection face. Current example: Sister Mira of the Quiet Hand -> Veil Walker Mira Telven ("Fallen Pale Veil Civilian Rebel Mira Telven"). The Pale Veil venerate the Veil itself rather than Astris.
The three secession allegiances to date: Concord (Galatic Union splinter), Emberate and Pale Veil (distinct Hegemony splinters).
When a card or effect permits a player to play a card of a faction they do not control (e.g., Vael, Asset of Record's reveal-and-play ability, which may name a Zealot card), the borrowed card retains all of its original characteristics: faction tags, subtypes, drives, morality, type line, keywords, and any printed text. The granting effect supplies only legal permission — the act of playing the off-faction card — not transmutation.
In practice this means a Union Character playing a Zealot Maneuver through Vael's ability resolves the Maneuver exactly as it would resolve if a Hegemony player had played it. Faction-keyed effects (e.g., "this affects only Zealot Characters") see the card as Zealot.
This is a design-discipline rule rather than an in-game rule, but it has affected several cards and is included for future card design reference.
Any ability whose intent is to power up the bearer's own attack must not require Activate (tap-cost) as part of its cost. Activating a card prevents that card from attacking on the same turn under standard combat rules; an "Activate, gain +2 ATK" ability on an attacker therefore prevents the very attack the bonus is meant to enable. Self-attack-buff abilities should use Currency costs, CP costs, or triggered conditions instead.
Activate-cost abilities on attackers are appropriate when the ability's effect is not an attack-buff for the bearer — for example, repositioning the bearer (where not attacking is the expected trade-off), supporting allies, generating Drones, or producing political effects.
A Maneuver whose executor line includes Binding becomes a permanent when it resolves rather than being placed in the Depleted pile. It remains in play (usually attached to a target named in its text) and applies its effect continuously until removed. The card prints how it can be destroyed (typically a Currency or Vote payment any player may make during their Admin Phase). Binding is unrelated to Bind (§8.10); the two terms are kept distinct.
Concord is used two ways. (1) As a Storyline arc tag on the front type line ("Concord Storyline - ,"). To make a completed Concord Storyline countable when its back face is not itself a Storyline, the back face prints the explicit line "This card counts as a completed Concord Storyline" (type lines are never mutated to add the tag). (2) As an allegiance: a Concord permanent is any permanent whose current face carries a Concord allegiance subtype (e.g., Concord Official, Concord Rebel, Concord Syntient, Concord Syntient Capital Ship), reached by a Syntient defecting via its Fallen flip or a Twist. The first arc is Concord (The Synthesis; The Cael Tessin Question).
A permanent's Twist back face may be a Maneuver type (not only another permanent type). When such a card flips, the Maneuver back is resolved as a one-shot effect and then leaves the map (burned or to the Depleted Pile as the card states).
A Last Strike Maneuver may be resolved only as the flip result of a specified permanent being destroyed (it is not playable from hand). It resolves immediately on that flip, then is sent to the Depleted Pile.
A card may flip to a back face of a different card type (already true for Storylines, §8.9; extended in R7 to Spacecraft). When a Spacecraft flips to a non-Spacecraft face, resolve embarked Characters and Ground Units as follows:
→ Surface Location: embarked units become deployed to the new Location; the permanent moves from space to the surface.
→ Device: embarked units use Escape Pod or relocate to a friendly Location or Spacecraft; any unit with no legal destination is destroyed (as in a failed retreat, §12.2).
→ Character: the Character deploys to a Drone version of the ship (per the captain pattern, §18.26); other embarked units remain on the Drone.
A counter created by The Surva-Eagan Device (Appendix B). It accumulates as that card's first ability is used and sets the size of the card's escalating End-Phase tax. Per Counter Consolidation (§18.37), Horror Counters may be placed only on the card that creates them.
During the controlling player's Action Phase, they pay the Restore cost of the card. If they do, they may flip the card from its Contested or Fallen face to its Prime face.
If this card is deployed to a Location you do not control, during your Action Phase you may pay XC where X is the Rank of that Location. If you do, Liberate that Location.
Unit is shorthand for Characters and Ground Units collectively. Rules and card text referring to Units apply to both card types and to no other type. Non-Capital Spacecraft are not Units, even when treated as Ground Units for combat purposes under §11.1.
A Band is a region of the Map used to determine range. There are three: the Planetary Band, the Surface Band, and the Space Band. Each player has their own Planetary and Surface Band; the Space Band is shared. See §14.1 and §14.2.
Band determines range only. It does not determine which permanent a card occupies. See §14.3.
A Spacecraft subtype. Capital Ships deploy only to the Space Band, occupy no card, and never move. They remain in the Space Band for as long as they are on the Map.
Capital Ships may attack Spacecraft in the Space Band. With Orbital Bombardment they may also attack Planetary Locations, Surface Locations, Characters, and Ground Units in their own or an adjacent Band.
Characters, Ground Units, and Non-Capital Spacecraft deployed to a Location or Spacecraft may not attack a Capital Ship in the Space Band without a granting ability such as Orbital (§18.59).
Any Spacecraft that does not have the Capital Ship subtype. Fighter is the first such subtype; others may follow. Every Spacecraft prints either Capital Ship or a non-capital subtype on its type line.
A Non-Capital Spacecraft in the Space Band not deployed to a Spacecraft is treated as a Spacecraft for all combat purposes: it may attack Spacecraft freely, and Characters and Ground Units require a granting ability to attack it.
A Non-Capital Spacecraft in any other position — occupying a Location, or deployed to a Capital Ship — is treated as a Ground Unit for all combat purposes. It requires a granting ability such as Orbital to attack Spacecraft in the Space Band, and it may be attacked by Characters and Ground Units as a Ground Unit.
Non-Capital Spacecraft may be moved using move actions. They deploy to a Planetary Location or Capital Ship you control (§10.5), and may move into the Space Band occupying no card.
Non-Capital Spacecraft are not Units. They have printed Rank, may be the target of Liberation, and add Rank to Liberations as any permanent does, but may not be declared as liberators. They do not have Escape Pod.
A card Mobilizes during the turn it enters the Map, and is described as Mobilizing while in that state. A Mobilizing card may move, perform actions, commit Votes, and use abilities. It may not attack or be declared as a liberator.
A card stops Mobilizing at the start of its controller's next turn. Flipping a card does not cause it to Mobilize; the card was already on the Map.
This card may attack Spacecraft in its own or an adjacent Band, dealing X damage. Without Orbital or a similar granting ability, a Character, Ground Unit, or Non-Capital Spacecraft deployed to a Location or Spacecraft may not attack Spacecraft in the Space Band (§11.1).
Orbital is the inverse of Orbital Bombardment (§18.4): Orbital Bombardment reaches down from the Space Band, Orbital reaches up from a Planetary or Surface Band.
Orbital is offense only. It does not permit the card to intercept an attacking Spacecraft.
By convention Orbital is printed on Ground Units and Non-Capital Spacecraft, not on Characters.
