Keywords

Revision as of 15:50, 23 October 2012

Keywords give the player information about a card's properties in compact form. They are used most often for game mechanics and rules that come into play repeatedly on many cards, like Armor or Holy . Because using a keyword is shorter than writing out the whole explanation, more text can be written on a card. Players are expected to learn and recognize these words, but for many Blue Manchu also provides a helpful tooltip on mouseover, and quite a few cards do write the full rules when space permits.

Arcane

This paragraph describes the use of 'Arcane' as a keyword, for other uses see Category:Arcane items.

Arcane describes a type of Magic that may or may not be damaging. Often this keyword is used a catch-all term for magic that does not fit into other types of definitions. Often this keyword appears above a card's rules box and designates how other cards might interact with it, e.g. a card that redirects a the effect of an Arcane card.

Armor

This paragraph describes the use of 'Armor' as a keyword, for more information see Category:Armor cards.

Armor is used as a reaction keyword to describe a card that prevents or mitigates damage done to a character's hit points. It is always followed by a number representing the amount of damage against which the card protects. If another card would do less or equal damage than the Armor rating, then that damage is reduced to zero. If another card would do greater damage than the Armor rating, then that damage is reduced by the same amount as the rating. Some Armor cards may not protect against all types of damage, and some cards may have special rules that allow them to ignore Armor.

Burst

Burst describes a card that affects all squares for a certain distance around the target; this keyword is always paired with a number showing how large the Burst is. Distance is counted in any direction, including diagonals. The burst is calculated outward to any square in range that has line of sight with the target; unless otherwise specified, this is independent of the sight of the character who played the card. This means a burst card may affect squares a character could not normally reach.

Chance

Chance is almost never seen written as a keyword, but it appears as an icon that looks like a die on many cards. The number of pips displayed on the icon shows what number (or higher) must be rolled on a six-sided die before that card's effects may happen. Chance is often found on Blocks, Armors, and other damamge mitigating cards.

Chance #	⁄	Probability of success
1+		6/6, or every time
2+		5/6, or around 83%
3+		4/6, or not quite 67%
4+		3/6, or exactly 50%
5+		2/6, or slightly over 33%
6+		1/6, or a little less than 17%

Crushing

Crushing decribes a type of damage associated with blunt rounded weapons and projectiles. Often this keyword appears above a card's rules box and designates how other cards might interact with it, e.g. a card that increases damage when a Crushing card is played.

Electrical

Electrical describes a type of damage usually associated with magic spells. Often this keyword appears above a card's rules box and designates how other cards might interact with it, e.g. a card that reduces Electrical damage by half.

Magic

This paragraph describes the use 'Magic' as a keyword. For other uses, see Magic.

Magic describes card effects that are non-physical or supernatural, such as a healing or teleportation. This keyword usually appears above a card's rules box and designates how other cards might interact with it, e.g. a card that forces a character to discard when a Magic card is played.