Astris

Rules

8. Storylines

8.2 Faction Independence#

Storylines are not faction-locked. Any deck may include any Storyline. Drives listed on the Storyline's type line are affinities, not requirements, BUT any Character that is bound to a Storyline that does not match one of their drives does not receive any Story Point awards from that Storyline.

8.3 Bound vs. Player Storylines#

A Bound Storyline attaches to a single Character through the Bind ability (see §8.10). The Character pursues the Storyline as their personal arc. A Player Storyline remains in play for the controller without attaching to a specific Character; such Storylines do not use Bind.

8.4 Aligned#

A Character is Aligned with a Storyline if they share at least one Drive with the Storyline's printed Drives. If a Character is not aligned to the Storyline, then any Story Point awards are ignored. Some chapter rewards scale by alignment (e.g., '+2 CP if Aligned, else +1 CP'). The Aligned status is checked at the moment the relevant chapter effect resolves.

8.5 Chapters#

A Storyline has 3 Chapters. Each Chapter has:

  • An End condition — when met, the chapter is completed and the next chapter activates. Chapter rewards (if any) are gained only when the End condition is met naturally.
  • A reward (optional) — gained when the chapter completes naturally. Reward design is per-card; rewards are not awarded when chapters are skipped.
  • A Skip cost (optional) — any player may pay this cost to advance the chapter without satisfying the End condition. Climactic chapters (Chapter 3) typically cannot be skipped.

Once completed, a Chapter's effect occurs and cannot be undone.

8.6 Skip Mechanics#

Any player may pay a Chapter's Skip cost to advance the storyline. Skip costs are typically severe and thematically aligned with the Chapter's nature. Skipping does NOT trigger the chapter's reward or its SP award.

Skip costs and Skip conditions are distinguished in card text:

  • "Skip: Pay X" — a real cost (Currency, CP, SP, sacrifice, etc.) paid to advance.
  • "Skip: When [condition]" — a free skip available when the condition is true.

For Cursed Storylines, opponents may skip-advance chapters to harm the controller. For Aspirational Storylines, the controller may skip chapters they cannot satisfy. The Skip ability of a Storyline is played as a Slow Maneuver.

8.7 Act Restrictions#

Storyline cards may be played on the Acts (I, II, or III) specified on the card.

8.8 No Voluntary Discard#

Once a Storyline is played, the controller cannot voluntarily discard it. The Storyline must complete naturally, complete via Skip, or be removed by an expensive disruption Maneuver. If at any time a Storyline leaves play, any bound Characters to that Storyline flip to their Fallen face.

8.9 Completion and Back-Face Types#

When a Storyline's final Chapter is completed, the Storyline flips to its back face. The back face may be any card type — a Completed Storyline, a Spacecraft, a Device, a Location, or in principle any other permanent type. The new face is treated as a permanent of its new type and follows that type's rules.

The bound Character (if any) remains in play. Completed Storylines and other back-face permanents remain in play as permanents and may contribute to win conditions or be the target of disruption. At the end of each Act all completed Storyline cards are removed from play and placed into their owner's Depleted Pile.

8.10 Bind#

Bind is an activated ability on Storylines that attaches a Character to the Storyline.

  • Bind is played as a Slow Maneuver — it resolves only during the controller's Action Phase.
  • Only the storyline's controller may activate Bind on it.
  • Activating Bind requires activating one Character the controller controls; that Character becomes the bound Character.
  • A Character may be bound to only one Storyline at a time. Storylines cannot be transferred between Characters. Players cannot choose to "unbind" Characters from Storylines. Characters become unbound only the following conditions:
  • The bound Character flips to its Fallen face.
  • The bound Character is removed from play.
  • The Storyline is destroyed or removed from play.
  • The Storyline completes and is flipped.

When a Storyline enters play, it is unbound. Many storylines have an "End: Bind" condition on Chapter 1, meaning Chapter 1 completes when the controller activates Bind. The controller may delay binding indefinitely to wait for a preferred Character — at the strategic cost of stalling chapter progression.