On the Edge Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Background
• Object of the Game
• Setting Up
• Playing the Game
  • Your First Games
• Cards
  • Data
  • Types of Cards
  • Scoping Cards
• Your Turn
  • Order of Turn
  • Card-Tending Phase
  • Operations Phase
  • End of Turn Phase
• Other Players' Turns
• Ranks
• Attacks
  • Making an Attack
  • Example of Combat
  • Effects on Combat
  • Attacks Within the Conspiracy
  • Attacking Characters With Pull
• Cranking
• Effects & Abilities
  • Effect Duration
  • Effect Timing
• Ability Descriptions
• Terms in Descriptions

Game Background

The setting is the fictitious Mediterranean island of Al Amarja ("AHL uh-MAR-huh"), especially its chief city, the Edge. The time is now. This setting is developed in the roleplaying game, Over the Edge. Note, however, that insidious conspiracies have altered information in one or both games so that what is true in one is not necessarily true in the other.

Most cards are linked to various overt and covert groups that operate on Al Amarja. At first you might not understand the significance of certain terms referring to these groups, but everything you need to know is in the cards somewhere. Play, share notes with other players, trade cards, and all will become clear. Beware: A very few rules will not be relevant until expansions sets for the game are available.

Object of the Game

Any number of players, or any number of teams of any size, can play, though larger groups can make for longer games. Players score Influence during play through the cards they use. This represents progress toward secret control of Al Amarja, which is the imaginary goal of the game. The amount of Influence needed to win depends on the number of teams or individual players in the game, as shown on the following chart:

Players or Teams	Influence Points Needed to Win
2	24
3	16
4	12
5+	10

To win, you must begin a turn with sufficient Influence. If you play teams, each team has one score to which the team members contribute. To win, each team member in succession must begin a turn with sufficient Influence.

Setting Up

Players sit around a table or other playing area. If you're playing teams, sit opposite your teammate(s) so that there is one team member from each other team between you and your teammate(s).

To start, you need a deck of at least 40 cards. You play with your own deck, which consists of whichever cards you decide to use, selected from those you've bought or traded for. During the game, you'll bring the cards from your deck into play. Your deck stays on the table in front of you.

First shuffle your deck, then cut the deck of the player to your right. Then deal yourself a hand of ten cards from the top of your deck. Determine randomly (or by consensus) who goes first.

Playing the Game

As you play, each player takes turns, with play proceeding clockwise (to the left). A round is the time it takes for each player to take one turn. The game goes on until one player or team wins (see above).

One vital card type is the Resource, which usually represent your contacts in a certain community or subculture. These Resources provide you with Pull that you can use to call other cards (bring them into play). When you call Resources, put them on the table in front of you (separate from your ranks of Characters, described below). They usually remain in play from the time you call them until the end of the game.

Another vital card type is the Character, representing a person that you can draw into your Conspiracy. Some Characters provide you with Pull. This Pull can call other cards, just as Resources do. It can also generate Influence for you (representing the Characters' ability to influence the underground, illicit politics of the Edge). When you can begin a turn with enough Influence, you win the game. Characters without Pull will protect your important Characters, attack your opponents' Characters, or help you in other ways.

Characters go on the table in front of you arranged in ranks. The Characters that are closer to other players are "front-line" operatives who are most vulnerable to enemy attacks and most capable of carrying out attacks on others. The Characters closest to you are "behind-the-scenes" operatives who are safer from attack. Characters stay in play until they are popped, at which time they are put in the dead pile (discarded). The Characters arranged in rank and file are called your Conspiracy.

Characters are Unique. Since each represents a person, it's impossible (barring special circumstances) for two cards representing the same person to be in play at the same time.

Your deck also includes cards that represent equipment your Characters may use, turns and twists of fate, magical and psychic effects, weird science, secrets you have learned, and so on. These cards can be important to winning a game, but you can do without them. It's possible to win a game with just Resources and Characters in your deck.

Characters and Resources can be used over and over through the game. Other cards may have continuous, repeated, or one-time effects, as described on the cards themselves. Generally, Characters and Resources can only be used once per round. To indicate which cards you've already used in a round, crank them (turn them sideways) as you use them. At the beginning of your turn, you uncrank all your cranked cards so you can use them again that round. It's also possible for a Character to be flipped, meaning that it is placed face down and is out of play (except in terms of Uniqueness) until its owner's next turn.

Your First Games

When you are first learning On the Edge, you may want to use the optional "beginner's discard" rule. Every turn, during your discard phase (see below), you may discard any one card and replace it with a new card from your deck. (This replacement is in addition to replacements normally allowed, as explained below.) This special rule lets you get to the cards you really need more quickly, an effect that experienced players achieve by deciding which cards go in their decks in the first place. You must get your opponents' permission to use the beginner's discard rule.

Cards

In On the Edge, everything happens to and through cards. The only "game board" is the space where cards are put into play. In case of conflict between these rules and those on a card, the card takes precedence.

Data

A card includes the following data:

• Illustration: The illustration tells you something about the card but has no direct effect on play.
• Name: If the card is a Unique Character, this is a person's name. Only one card representing a given Unique Character may be in play at one time. You may not call a Unique Character if it is already in play, even if your card is a different version of the same Character (i.e., the same name but different details). If the card is not a Unique Character, then the name says what the card is.
• Tag or Type: A word or phrase in italics across the top of the card is the tag (if the card is a Character) or the card type (if it is a non-Character card). A tag is a brief description of the Character (which has no effect on play). Types, besides Characters, include: Resource, Whammy, Condition, Environmental, Secret, and Gear. There are different rules for each type (see below).
• Cost: Located in the top right corner of the card, this is the cost in Pull Points to call the card. If the Cost is marked by a bullet (•), you cannot call the card unless you already have a Resource or Character in play that shares a trait with the card. You may not call more than one 0-Cost card per turn. Whammies have no Cost (marked —); you can play any number of them.
• Power: Beneath the card's name in the sidebar are the card's Power scores. All Characters have Power. Other cards have Power as well if they affect the Power of Characters. If the Power is listed with a + or –, it means it increases or reduces a Character's Power. The top number, Attack Power (or Attack, or AP), is used when the Character attacks. The second number, Defense Power (or Defense, or DP), is used when the Character is being attacked by another Character. If a rule refers to "Power" without specifying AP or DP, it applies to both.
• Pull: The number of Pull Points the card generates when you crank it for that purpose. If the number has a + or –, it affects another card's Pull. You must crank the card to generate these points. Pull may be used to call new cards into play from your hand, or to score Influence. You may split up the Pull Points generated any way you like. E.g., a Character with 3 Pull could be used to call a cost 1 Gear, a cost 1 Condition, and score a point of Influence that turn. Any Pull Points not used by the end of the turn are lost.

Types of Cards

There are seven types of cards: Resources, Characters, Whammies, Gears, Conditions, Environmentals, and Secrets.

• Resource: These provide Pull Points. Pull Points from Resources cannot be used for Influence. Resources remain in play until popped.
• Character: Represents a person. Unless otherwise specified, Characters are Unique. Characters remain in play until popped. Characters with Pull generate Pull Points when cranked for that purpose. You can use these Pull Points to call cards or to score Influence. Characters can also attack other Characters; you must crank a Character to have it attack. Many Characters also have special abilities that let them affect other cards, and you often have to crank a Character to activate its special abilities. Unless a Character says "crank any time," you can only crank it on your turn.
• Whammy: These have immediate effects on other cards. They have no Cost (different from 0-Cost) so you can play as many of them as you like during your turn. Those designated "play any time" may be played on other players' turns. Whammies are discarded immediately when used.
• Gear: Weapons, armor, tools, fringe science devices, etc. Only one copy of a Gear on a single Character can operate at any one time. E.g., two +1* Hypno-Discs do not give a Character +2 vs. Humans. A Character may have more than one Weapon and more than one Armor, but the bonuses of only one Weapon and one Armor (player chooses at beginning of combat) count in any given combat. A player may always decide to have a Character not use a Gear. A Gear remains in play until popped or until the Character that the Gear is affecting is discarded, at which point the Gear is discarded.
• Condition: A lasting change to a card in play. A Condition lasts until it is popped or until the card it is affecting is discarded, at which time it is discarded.
• Environmental: Continually affects play. All Environmentals are Unique. They remain in play until popped.
• Secret: These provide special powers relating to secret groups on Al Amarja. You may only have one copy of a given Secret in play at any time. Secrets remain in play until popped.

Scoping Cards

You may look at any player's cards that are not in hand or in the deck, including flipped cards and cards in the dead pile. You may also "go fish," such as asking, "Does anyone have any Mutants in play?"

Your Turn

If you begin your turn with sufficient Influence, you win. Otherwise, take your turn, following the order of play detailed below.

Order of Turn

Card-Tending Phase

During this phase, perform these four actions in this order.

1. Uncrank: Turn all cranked (sideways) cards right-side up.
2. Unflip: Turn flipped (face-down) cards face-up and place them in your Conspiracy. They are cranked.
3. Discard: You may discard any cards that you cannot call because of Uniqueness. For each card so discarded, draw a card from your deck. You may not discard cards drawn this turn.
4. Draw: Draw one card from your deck. If you cannot draw because you have no cards left, you are out of the game. Your cards remain in play until the game ends. If you are playing teams, however, you remain in the game and simply draw no new cards.

Operations Phase

During this phase you may do the following in any order.

• Call one zero-Cost card
• Call any other cards whose Cost you pay in Pull Points
• Play any number of Whammies (which have no Cost)
• Launch attacks against other players (no more than one attack per opponent)
• Crank any of your Characters to activate their special abilities or generate Pull Points
• Crank a Character to move it to a new location in the Conspiracy

End of Turn Phase

You may perform these actions in this order.

1. Shift: Move Gear among Characters.
2. Influence: Record any points of Influence scored.

Card-Tending Phase

Perform these phases in this order.

Uncrank

Turn all your cranked cards right-side up. They are now active, so they can crank to take action.

Unflip

Turn flipped cards face up and place them in your Conspiracy in any location where you would be permitted to place a new Character. Leave them cranked; they become active next turn. They need not return to the locations they held before being flipped. If a flipped card cannot be put into play (such as because of Exclusion), discard it instead.

Discard

You may discard any cards that you cannot bring into play because of Uniqueness. You may also discard any Secrets of which you already have a copy in play. For each card so discarded, draw a card from your deck. You may not discard cards that cannot be called because of Exclusion.

Draw

Draw the top card from your deck. There's no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand. If you cannot draw because you have no cards left, you lose.

Operations Phase

During your operations phase, you may perform the following actions in any order. You may intermix these actions, (e.g. play a Whammy, call a 0-Cost card, play another Whammy, attack one player, call another card, attack another player, etc.).

Call any other cards whose Cost you pay in Pull Points. To call any non-Whammy card, you must pay its Cost in Pull. Some Characters, most Resources, and some Secrets can provide Pull Points; you must crank the card to get the Pull Point(s). For instance, Molly, Queen-Mother of Baboons has a Pull rating of 1. If you crank her, you can use the Pull Point to call Joey Ko, whose Cost is 1. You can combine Pull Points from multiple sources to call a card.

Some cards provide bonuses for bringing certain kinds of cards into play. For instance, Frank Germaine has 1 Pull and +1 Pull to call Aries cards. Cranking him gives you 1 point you can use for anything and another you can only use for Aries cards. You could call an Aries card with a Cost of 2 or call a 1-Cost Aries card and then do anything else with the other point (including using it for Influence).

If the card's Cost is marked by •, then you must have a Resource or Character with that trait in play to call the card. For example, the Gear Battle Bike costs 3• and has the trait Aries. You can call Battle Bike if you have a Character or Resource with the Aries trait in play. Peer Solgerkvist, an Aries Character, would count, and so would Friends in Flowers Barrio, a Resource with the Aries trait. You must also pay the Cost as normal.

Generated Pull points go into a Reserve. You can draw them from the Reserve and use them immediately, or you can draw on them at any other time up until the end of your turn, at which point unused Pull is lost.

Where you put a called card depends on its type. Conditions and Gear are placed on the Characters they are to affect. Environmentals, Resources, and Secrets are placed outside the Conspiracy, in any convenient space on your tabletop.

It is good etiquette to announce the name of any Character (or other Unique card) called so that other players can verify that you are not duplicating Unique cards they have in play.

Call one zero-Cost card. You may call one 0-Cost card each turn. The type of card is irrelevant. If you call one 0-Cost Resource, for instance, you can't also call one 0-Cost Character. Other than its Cost, call this card as you would any other.

Play any number of Whammies (which have no Cost). You can play Whammies at any time during your Operations Phase.

Launch attacks against other players, attacking a given player only once. See the Attacks section below.

Crank any of your Characters to activate their special abilities or to generate Pull Points.

Crank any of your Characters to move them to a new location in the Conspiracy. The new locations must be legal, places where you could put new Characters. (See "Ranks," below.)

End of Turn Phase

Shift

You may move any Gear from one Character to an adjacent Character. A given Gear cannot be moved more than once per turn. You may not shift Gear to Characters in another player's Conspiracy.

Influence

Unspent Pull Points may be used to score Influence. You may crank cards now to generate these points. Only Pull Points from Characters can score Influence.

Other Players' Turns

On other players' turns, you may only call cards that specify "play any time." If the card has a positive cost, you can crank your cards to pay for it (but excess Pull is lost at the end of the turn). You can only play one 0-cost card per other player's turn.

Ranks

When you bring a Character into play, place it face-up and upright. Every Character (except those that are flipped or otherwise taken out of play) is in a rank and a file. A rank is a horizontal (left to right) row; a file is a vertical (near to far) column. You may have up to three ranks and as many files as you wish. If you have only one Character in play, it is its own rank and file. The next Character you call must be placed next to the first, either adjacent to it (to one side, in front of, or behind) or diagonal to it. If the second Character is to one side, then the two are in the same rank. If the second is in front of or behind, then the two are in the same file. If the second is diagonal from the first, they are in different ranks and files.

Each successive Character brought into play must likewise be next to another Character. You may not call Characters into other players' Conspiracies.

If three ranks already exist, any new Characters brought into play must be in those ranks.

The rank furthest from you is the first rank. The rank, if any, immediately behind it (nearer you) is the second. The one behind that, if any, is the third. The first rank is the lowest and the third is the highest.

While called Characters must be placed next to existing Characters, during play Characters may become isolated from each other when the Characters between them are eliminated or moved. This is OK. If an entire rank or file is eliminated, it remains in play only if there remain Characters on either side of it.

Resources, Environmentals, Secrets, and flipped Characters are not part of the Conspiracy and are not arranged in ranks and files.

In the first diagram, the player has already played Character 1. Cards 2a through 2h show the possible places where a second Character could be placed. In the second diagram, the white cards with thicker borders represent Characters in play. The gray cards represent the possible locations where a new Character could be placed. Note that if the Character is placed ahead of the current first rank, it becomes the first rank, and no cards may then be placed behind the last rank. A Character played behind the current second rank likewise becomes the third rank and prevents a card from being placed ahead of the first rank.

In the third diagram, since three ranks are already in play, no new Characters may be placed ahead of or behind the current Characters. Also note that the isolated card to the right must have been originally next to another card, which may have been popped, flipped or moved.

Attacks

You can launch attacks on opponents in order to slow their progress toward victory.

Making an Attack

During your Operations Phase, you may launch one (and only one) attack against each player (including yourself). When you attack a player, one Character from your Conspiracy attacks one Character in the target player's Conspiracy. You must crank the Character to attack.

A Character may only attack another Character if there is no active Character between them. A Character may not attack outside its Conspiracy if an active Character is in its file and in a lower rank. A Character that is behind an active Character (i.e., in the same file but in a higher rank) cannot be attacked. Flipped Characters and other Characters not in the Conspiracy cannot be attacked, nor can they attack.

Compare the attacker's AP to the defender's DP. The Character with the lower number is popped. In case of a tie, both are popped. Many Character effects can pop or otherwise adversely affect other Characters. This is never considered an attack in itself. Some effects state they can only be used against Characters that could be attacked. Nevertheless, this effect does not count against the one-attack-per-turn limit.

Example of Combat

In the example combat diagram, the two numbers divided by a slash represent AP and DP, respectively.

Player A has five Characters.

• A1 cannot attack any B Characters because A2 blocks it.
• A2 can attack B1, B2, B3, or B4. It cannot attack B5 because B4 (an active Character) blocks it. A2 could pop B2 (AP 2 vs. DP 1). A2 would be popped if it attacked B1 or B3 (AP 2 vs. DP 3 or 4). If A2 attacked B4, both Characters would be popped because A2's AP equals B4's DP. If A2 attacks, it will be cranked, exposing A1 to attack on B's turn.
• A3 is cranked so it cannot attack anyone.
• A4 can attack B1, B2, B3, or B4. Even though A5 is in front of it, A4 can attack because A5 is cranked. A4 would pop B2 or B4, it would be popped by B3, and it would pop and be popped by B1. Currently A4 blocks attacks against A3. If it attacks, it will be cranked, exposing A3 to attacks on B's turn.
• A5 is cranked so it cannot attack anyone.

Player B has five Characters.

• B1, B2, and B3 are cranked, so none of them can attack.
• B4 can attack A2, A4, or A5. It would pop A2 (AP 2 vs. DP 1), be popped by A4, and pop and be popped by A5.
• B5 cannot attack any A Character because B4 blocks it.

Effects on Combat

Various cards affect combat. Gear and Conditions that affect Characters' Power can alter the outcome of an attack. Some Characters have special abilities that can raise or lower another Character's Power. Some Characters get bonuses on their Power when in combat with certain types of other Characters. Whammies can change the outcome of a combat unpredictably. Reducing a Character's DP to 0 or lower does not pop it.

The final outcome of a combat is not determined until all players have had the chance to influence the outcome by whatever means are at their disposal.

For example, Zipper (AP 3) attacks Arthur Pendrick (DP 3). Pendrick's player says, "They're both popped," but then Zipper's player plays the Whammy "Sneak," which gives Zipper Surprise. (Surprise is a special ability that keeps an attacker from being hurt in combat.) This means Zipper won't be popped. Pendrick's player then plays the Whammy "Beginner's Luck," which adds +3 to a Pendrick's Power for this turn. This means that neither Pendrick (whose Defense is now 6) nor Zipper (who is Surprising Pendrick) will be popped. Then a third player cranks the Character Mihaly Cieznick, who can nullify a Fortune card's effect. Since "Beginner's Luck" has the trait Fortune, it's nullified and Pendrick's Defense is back to 3, low enough for him to get popped. His player plays the Whammy "Bad Luck" on Zipper; Bad Luck reduces a Character's Power by 1 until the end of the turn, so Zipper's Power is now 2. Cieznick cannot cancel the Bad Luck card because he's already cranked. Ultimately, neither Pendrick nor Zipper is popped. Zipper is still cranked for making the attack.

Attacks Within the Conspiracy

One Character may attack another Character in the same rank or the same file, as long as no active Character is between them.

Look back at the example of combat.

• A1 could attack A2 or A3.
• A2 could attack A1 or A4.
• A4 could attack A2, A3, or A5.
• B4 could attack B1 or B5.
• B5 could attack B3 or B4.

Attacking Characters With Pull

When a Character is popped and not Saved (i.e., nothing prevents it from being discarded), its player loses Influence equal to the Character's Pull. (Influence may go negative.) You do not lose Influence for having a Character popped by means other than being attacked.

Cranking

Characters crank to take action and get cranked as the result of an action. For instance, you can crank a Character with Pull in order to generate Pull Points, and Saving a Character from being discarded cranks it. In the first case, taking an action, the Character must be active; you can't crank a cranked card. In the second case, the result of an action, a cranked Character is simply left cranked. For instance, a Total Taxi card leaves its target cranked.

You can crank a Character to affect something that has just happened or is happening, but you cannot otherwise crank a Character in the middle of another Character's action. For example, the Character Ricardo Cerdo can crank any time to add +1 to another Character's Power, and the Character Andrea Vernon can crank any time to cancel any Cloak Whammy or Condition. If another player uses Blackmail (a Cloak Whammy) to force your Cerdo to boost another Character's Power, you cannot crank him "real fast" to raise a different Character's Power and thus prevent him from being Blackmailed. (If a Character is cranked, it cannot be Controlled.) You could, however, crank Vernon to block the Blackmail. Cranking a Character can only interrupt another action when it directly affects that action.

If an attacked Character's ability does not affect the combat, and it can be used "any time," you can crank the Character when it is attacked in order to have its effect just before the attack is resolved. After the effect takes place, however, the attacker may choose to attack a legal target behind the newly cranked Character in the file instead of carrying through with the attack on the original target. (Since the original target is cranked, it no longer prevents attacks against Characters behind it.)

Sometimes a Character flips to have an effect rather than cranking. This is treated exactly like cranking (e.g., only active Characters may flip voluntarily), except that the Character is flipped instead of cranked.

You cannot crank a Character just for the sake of doing so.

Effects & Abilities

An effect is any way in which one card directly affects another (other than combat) or itself. An ability describes a card's effects. Certain abilities are standard and are described below. Others are unusual, and they are described in full on the cards themselves.

Effect Duration

Effects have two possible durations: continual and one-turn. A continual effect always has a card or marker of some kind to indicate that it is in effect. For instance, a Condition that gives a Character +1 Power is continual; it lasts as long as the Condition remains in play. A Whammy, on the other hand, that gives a Character +1 Power grants that effect only until the end of the turn. The effect has a one-turn duration. The Whammy is discarded immediately; it is not placed on the Character. Effects from Characters that affect other Characters are generally one-turn (since there is no card to indicate a continual effect on the target). For instance, a Character who can increase another Character's Power by +1 grants only a one-turn increase, not a permanent one.

Usually a one-turn effect only comes into play once in a turn, as if the effect were instantly over. Sometimes, however, it's important to remember that the effect remains until the end of the turn. For instance, imagine that a Character with AP 2 and Negative Energy attacks a Character with DP 9. The Negative Energy reduces the defender's DP to 4, but that's still enough to pop the attacker. The defender's DP, however, remains 4 until the end of the turn, so if the attacking player can now launch a second attack (allowable through the use of certain cards), the defender's lowered Defense may allow the defender to be popped.

Effect Timing

Effects can only affect "current events," which means something happening now or something that has just happened. If any card has been played after the event, you cannot affect it; though any number of cards played during the event do not prevent further actions. You can respond to an event by calling a Whammy, using a Character ability, or calling a card with cost that specifically states that it can be called in these circumstances. You may not respond to an event by calling a card with cost (even 0-cost) unless that card states that it is to be used in this way.

Whammies and other effects that do not pertain to an effect cannot come between the effect being played and its being resolved. If you play Blackmail, another player cannot play Astral Flux on an unaffected Character's Gear. The Astral Flux doesn't involve the Blackmail, so it can't be played until after the Blackmail is resolved. The Astral Flux could be played on the Blackmailed Character's Gear, or on the Gear of a Character that the Blackmailed Character attacks.

Once an effect (like a Whammy or a Character's special ability) is used, the other players have the opportunity to affect that effect. You must give your opponents time to respond to each action, and time to consider responding, if they request it. For instance, if you play Blackmail (a Whammy), other players have a chance to affect that card before it takes effect. Another player might, for instance, use Counter-Intelligence (another Whammy) to cancel the Blackmail. Then someone else could play the Whammy Gang A-Gley to cancel Counter-Intelligence. Later-played effects take precedence over earlier-played effects. Thus in this example, the Gang A-Gley cancels the Counter-Intelligence, which would otherwise have canceled the Blackmail.

Ability Descriptions

Avoid Combat Prevents the Character from being attacked. The attacker is still cranked and the attacking player cannot attack the defending player again this turn.

Bulldoze After a Bulldozing Character attacks a target (or after the target Avoids Combat), it may immediately attack another Character in the same file and a higher rank. (Selection of subsequent Characters must also follow rules of rank position.) For this attack, its AP is reduced by the total DP of the Character(s) it has already attacked. If attacking within its own Conspiracy, a Bulldozing Character may attack successive, adjacent Characters along a rank or file, but may not cross a space or turn.

Bypass Ignore an active, enemy Character when determining which Characters may be attacked. It does not allow one to attack from behind an active Character in one's own Conspiracy.

Call Any A card that can "call any" card of a given type means that the called card's Cost (including *, if any) is irrelevant. A 0-Cost card called this way doesn't count against the one-per-turn limit.

Can't Attack The Character has no Attack Power and cannot attack. This ability takes precedence over every card or effect that would force the Character to attack.

Control Crank an active Character of another player, making the Character act as if its player were controlling it on that player's turn. Cranked Characters cannot be Controlled. A Controlled Character can attack, provide the Controller with Pull Points, etc. A Character's Control ability never works on a duplicate of that Character.

Exclude A Character cannot be in play in the same Conspiracy as a Character that it Excludes. The Character is popped (no Save) if forced to be in the same Conspiracy as a Character it Excludes.

Gang Up The Character may attack along with another Character who is already attacking. The Character may Gang Up out of turn. Use the Characters' combined AP to determine whether the defender is popped. The defender can pop any attackers of the defending player's choice whose total AP scores are no higher than its DP.

Immune A Character may be Immune to traits, to abilities, or even to specific cards. A Character who is Immune to a trait (e.g., Astral) is not affected by effects of that type. A card's effect has that card's traits. E.g., the special effect of a Psychic Character is a Psychic effect. The Character's Cost, AP, DP, and Pull do not have the Character's traits. E.g., a Character who is Immune: Psychic is not affected by a Psychic Character's special effect but can be attacked by that Character normally.

A Character who is Immune to an ability (e.g., Control) cannot be affected by that ability, regardless of traits.

A Character who is Immune to a card (e.g., Blackmail) cannot be affected by that card. A Character can be indirectly affected by a card to which it's Immune. E.g., if a Character that is Immune: Psychic is attacked by a Character with a Hostility Channeler (a Psychic Gear that gives +2 AP), then the attacker still gets the +2 bonus. The Hostility Channeler affects the attacker, not the defender, so the defender's Immunity does not prevent its effect.

Conditions and Gear to which a Character is Immune can be called onto the Character, but they do not affect it. Nor do such cards that are already on the Character when it becomes Immune.

Last Rank The Character must occupy the last rank. If the Character is ever not in the last rank, immediately place it (cranked) in a legal position in the last rank.

Martyr When a Character Martyrs, it is popped instead of another Character. The Character's controller decides whether it Martyrs. Martyring doesn't otherwise alter the outcome of a combat. E.g., an AP 3 Character attacks a DP 3 Character. Another Character, with a DP of 2, Martyrs for the defender. Even though the Martyring Character has a lower Defense than the attacker, the attacker is still popped, as per the normal results of the combat.

You may Martyr any time. A Martyr must crank to Martyr. A cranked Character cannot Martyr. If the Martyr and the Character being protected are popped simultaneously, the Martyr may not Martyr.

Save Saving a Character keeps it from being discarded when it is popped. Unless otherwise specified, the Saved Character is cranked.

Surprise A Surprising Character is not popped or otherwise affected when it attacks, even if its Attack is equal to or lower than the defender's Defense. The defender cannot use optional effects that affect combat, but automatic effects (such as from Weapons and Armor) still count. If the defender has multiple Weapons or Armors, the attacking player decides which one Weapon and one Armor apply. The defender cannot crank in response to being attacked.

Unique Only one of this card can be in play at a time. All Characters and Environmentals are Unique unless otherwise specified; non-Characters are Unique only if specified.

Terms in Descriptions

AP Attack Points, i.e., a Character's attack strength.

Combatant Any Character involved in a combat in which the Character is involved (including the Character).

DP Defense Points, i.e., a Character's defense strength.

Play any time You may call the card on other players' turns and on your own phases other than the Operations Phase.

Power This term is synonymous with both AP and DP.

Target This term indicates the person that the card affects. If a type is specified (e.g., "target Mutant"), then the card can only be played on that type.

Vs. This term indicates that the bonus refers to combat Power. E.g., "+1 vs. Burger" means "+1 Power when in combat with a Character with the trait 'Burger.'"

= If an effect states that a number "= x" then that number cannot be increased or decreased by any effects. For example, if the card says "Power = 0," then Gear that normally affects AP or DP will have no effect on the Character; the Character's Power is 0.