The Shadowfist Players' Guide answers a lot of questions Shadowfist players have, but some questions have arisen since the Guide went to press. Jose Garcia has answered many of these questions on the rec.games.trading-cards.misc USENET newsgroup. I've tried to compile these rulings on this page. I intend to be conservative in my adding of rulings, but even so, I've probably missed a few. I've also tried to include the latest date where Jose posted his ruling. The last time I updated this page was 1997 July 12.
Also look at my (Unofficial) Shadowfist Players' Guide Errata page!
You can put multiple City Parks into play if someone burns one of your sites.
One of the rules of the game is that you can only play one site per turn, but note that City Park says that "you may put City Park into play," not "you may play City Park." "Putting something into play" and "playing something" are not synonymous. (But "playing a feng shui site" is one way to "put a feng shui site into play.") It's a technical point, to be sure, but City Park was worded that way specifically to allow this to happen.
You gain 1 power if you put City Park into play and you have no feng shui sites in play. If you put multiple City Parks into play and you have no feng shui sites in play, you gain 1 power for the first one and no power for the following ones. This comes from p. 18 of the rulebook. Note that p. 16 of the rulebook, which lists ways you can gain power, says you gain the 1 power "by playing a feng shui site" when you have none in play. That really should say "by putting a feng shui site into play." It also should list burning for power.
Ruling made 1997 Feb 5.
You cannot draw a different number of cards than you discarded. If you do not choose to discard, you cannot choose to draw. (Ruling made 1997 Feb 2.)
The current ruling (1997 Jun 26) is that the play cost of Gorilla Fighter fluctuates. Cards that count up play costs (such as Cave Network or Heat of Battle, to name two) use the current reduced cost to play the Gorilla Fighter. But this isn't necessarily the final ruling. Gorilla fighter uses the term "cost to play" as opposed to "play cost," and Jose has indicated (on 1997 Jul 2) that he may reverse this ruling.
What is the timing on effects that go off or end at the end of a turn? Here's what Jose had to say about this on 1997 Jun 25:
There's a metarule for handling the order of multiple end of turn effects coming out in the FAQ update next month. Normaly this isn't a problem because the exact order doesn't matter 98% of the time. For the time being this will have to do:
- Resolve end of turn effects by play order. The player whose turn is ending has his effects resolve first and then proceed in clockwise order.
- If a single player has multiple effects resolving at the end of the turn, then they resolve in generation order. More recently generated effects resolve first. In the event of cards which have an effect that resolves regularly (like Eugene Fo) consider their effects to have been generated when they entered play).
If Mirror Dancer damages a site in combat with the same name as an unrevealed site you control, it is too late to reveal that site and seize the damaged one. You would have to reveal your site before damage counters are put on Mirror Dancer's target. (1997 Jun 20)
If you burn a site for victory and someone plays a Bite of the Jellyfish in response, you may play characters, edges, or states in response, and the power you spend will not be stolen by the Bite of the Jellyfish. This is because there is no generate/resolve to seizing or burning a site. Once you said that the site is burned for victory, the attack ended. The Bite of the Jellyfish was played after the attack ended. Since it is still your turn, you may play characters, edges, or states. (We did tacitly assume that it was your turn in the above discussion.) (1996 Dec 23)
If an opponent seizes or burns your Fortress of Shadow, compare the number of power-generating sites the two of you have after the seizing or burning takes place. That's because there is no generate/resolve to seizing or burning; It just happens. The effect of Fortress of Shadow is generated immediately afterward. (1997 Mar 6)
Queen of the Darkness Pagoda toasts all characters who damage her, even if she simultaneously inflicts enough damage to smoke them. There may be an official errata issued for her to make this even more official, but it hasn't happened yet. (1997 May 14)
If you have Elderly Monk in play when you cut your deck to draw a card to see if Johnny Badhair returns to play, Elderly Monk's special ability lets you draw an additional card. However, the additional card has no bearing on whether or no Johnny Badhair comes back. (1997 May 12)
Feng shui sites generally have to be revealed before their special powers can be used. (The special abilities of some of them get around this.) This means that if you have an unrevealed unique feng shui site (e.g., Sacred Heart Hospital) when another one has already been revealed, you will have to reveal it before you can try to use it. This will immediately cause an auction, and your newly revealed site will have to survive it in order for you to use its special ability. (1997 Mar 7)
I am the keeper of Gummi Wisdom!
Email address: gee@math.berkeley.edu
Go to my main Shadowfist page.